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POLITICS  AND  RELIGION  IN  THE 
DAYS  OF  AUGUSTINE 


EDWARD  FRANK  HUMPHREY,  Ph.D. 

Inslrwtor  in  History  in  Columbia  University 


NEW  YORK 
1912 


Copyright,  1912 

BY 

EDWARD  FRANK  HUMPHREY 


o 


PREFACE 

The  following  essay  on  Politics  and  Religion  in  the 
Days  of  Augustine  takes  up  the  story  of  the  religious  con- 
flict in  the  Roman  world  from  the  year  395,  the  date  of 
the  death  of  Theodosius,  and  carries  the  narrative  down  to 
430,  the  date  of  the  death  of  Augustine.  It  covers  the 
period  during  which  Augustine,  as  an  official  of  the  African 
Church,  was  a  participant  in  the  struggle,  and  since  Augus- 
tine in  this  capacity  came  to  dominate  the  situation,  his 
official  career  marks  a  distinct  period.  The  earlier  activi- 
ties of  Augustine  naturally  do  not  come  within  the  scope 
of  this  survey,  nor  does  it  include  any  detailed  examination 
of  his  position  as  a  theologian.  As  far  as  possible,  the 
author  has  confined  himself  to  the  distinctly  historical 
aspects  of  the  struggle  through  which  the  West  became 
Christian  and  orthodox,  and  has  presented  this  historical 
survey,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  words  of  the  original 
documents  themselves. 

The  author  wishes  to  emphasize  his  deep  sense  of  obli- 
gation to  Professor  James  T.  Shotwell,  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. It  was  in  his  seminar  on  "  Paganism  and  Chris- 
tianity "  that  plans  were  developed  for  a  series  of  studies 
to  treat  of  the  conflict  of  religions  fully  and  impartially  in 
the  light  of  all  the  available  documentary  evidence.  These 
ideals  have  been  kept  constantly  in  mind  by  the  author  in 
preparing  this  essay.  Thanks  are  also  due  Professor 
Munroe  Smith,  of  Columbia  University,  for  his  valuable 
suggestions.  The  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  a  debt  of 
gratitude  to  Professor  Carlton  Huntley  Hayes,  of  Colum- 

5 


6 


PREFACE 


bia  University,  for  the  hours  spent  in  the  revision  and  cor- 
rection of  manuscript.  The  efficiency  of  the  h'brarians  of 
the  Bibliothcque  Nationale,  the  Bibliotheque  de  la  Sor- 
honne  and  of  the  Columbia  University  Library  have  greatly 
aided  in  hastening  the  completion  of  the  work. 

E.  F.  H. 

Columbia  University,  New  York,  March,  1912. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction   

CHAPTER  I 
The  Situation  in  the  Year  395 

I.  Political:  395  as  an  Epoch-Marking  Year;  The  Policies  of  Theodcsius; 

His  Death;  Successors,  Arcadius  and  Honorius;  Tbeir  Ministers, 
Rufinus  and  Stilicho;  Their  Rivalry;  Stilicho's  Claim  to  the  Guarcian- 
ship  of  Both  Princes;  The  Barbarians  in  the  Situation;  Stilicho  in 
Greece;  Death  of  Rufinus  

II.  Religious:  Elusive  Nature  of  Religious  History;  Its  Importance  for  this 

Period;  Why  Sources  are  Wanting;  Eunapius;  Olympiodorus;  Philo- 
storgius;  The  Chief  Sources,  Cl;iudian,  Symmachus,  Prudentius,  Zosiraus 
(as  an  Epitome  of  Eunapius  and  Olympiodorus)   

III.  The  Theodosian  Code;  Its  Importance;  Religious  Policies  of  Stilicho; 
of  Rufinus;  The  Arian  Barbarians  in  Greece  

CHAPTER  II 

The  Outcome  of  the  Religious  Conflict  in  the  East 
Eutropius;  Character  and  Antecedents;  His  Religion;  Laws  against 
Heretics;  Against  Pagans;  Relations  with  Chrysostom;  Chrysostom's 
Attitudes  toward  Pagans,  Heretics  and  Jews;  Revolt  of  Gainas;  Fall 
of  Eutropius;  Chrysostom's  Control  of  the  Situation;  Tolerance  for 
Heretics,  Suppression  of  Pagans;  The  Laws;  Porphyry  of  Gaza;  Coun- 
ter-Revoluiion  of  the  Year  400,  Restoration  of  the  Roman  Orthodox 
Party;  Synesius  an  Example  of  the  Union  of  Orthodoxy  and  Hellen- 
ism; Fall  of  Chrysostom;  Settlement  of  Relation  of  Church  and  State. 

CHAPTER  III 
The  Revolt  of  Gildo 
African  Situation;  Church  in  Danger  from  Pagan  Influences;  Church  Coun- 
cil Oppose  this;  Augustine  and  Paganism;  The  Donatist  Peril;  Its 
Alliance  with  Paganism;  Change  of  African  Churches  Leaders;  Coun- 
cils and  Heresy;  Augustine  and  Proculian;  Gildo  and  Optatus;  Stili- 
cho's  Use  ol  the  Orthodox  Party;  Monks  of  Caprari;  Suppression  of 

7 


8 


CONTENTS 


the  Revolt;  New  Roman  Officials  in  Africa;  Laws  against  Heretics 
and  Pagans;  Destruction  of  the  Temples;  Trouble  at  Suffectuni;  No 
Change  in  the  Roman  Situation  

CHAPTER  IV 
The  Donatist  Situation  to  the  Fall  of  Stilicho 
Repression  of  the  Circumcelliones;  Attempts  on  the  Part  of  the  Church  to 
Arrange  Conferences  wi'h  the  Donatists;  Augustine's  Arguments  with 
Petilian;  Laws  of  405  P.rand  the  Donatists  as  (leretics;  \\'aning  of  the 
Influence  of  Stilicho;  The  Laws  Show  his  Continued  Tolerance  

CHAPTER  V 

The  Revolution  of  the  Year  408:  Catholic  Supremacy 
Domestic  Tn  uhles;  Usurpation,  invasions,  revolts,  succession;  Stiliiho  is 
overthrown  by  the  Cailolic  party  under  lead  of  Oljmpius;  Augustine's 
relations  with  Olympius;    Laws  resulting  from  Catholic  supremacy; 
Augustine's  "  About-Face  "  on  Matters  of  Toleration  

CHAPTER  VI 
Augustine's  Relations  with  Paganism  after  408 
Trouble  at  C  alama;  (  onfession  would  free  from  punisl  roent,  fear  of  tor- 
tures; Augustine's  tfforis  to  convert  the  irtf Uectual  aristociacy;  His 
Altitude  tc  ward  (  icero  and  Classical  Litfrature;  Siege  and  Sack  of 
Rome;  Tennporary  relaxatu  n  of  persecutions;  Ihe  Law  of  the  Year 
415;  T^e  City  of  God;  Paul  Orosius'  History  for  the  Common  People; 
Persistence  of  Paganism  

CHAPTER  VII 

SfPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 

Severity  of  the  Proconsul;  Augustine  tiies  to  lessen  this;  Attitude  of  the 
Ftrp<ror  toward  official  lolirance;  To'eration  act  of  410;  Protest  of 
Church  Council;  Anru  mtnt  and  Fmptror's  Call  for  a  Council;  Coun- 
cil of  Carthage  411;  Its  f  ^ecisior  s  ag.ninst  Donatists;  Emperor's  Edict 
of  412;  Enfi  rcement  by  a  special  Imperial  Commissioner,  Marcellinus, 
a  tool  of  Augustine;  Ills  Iistiuctions  from  Augustine;  Law  Applied 
to  Primianists  and  Maximiani^ls;  Confiscations;  Augustine's  New  Ideas 
of  the  legitimate  use  to  be  made  (  f  the  laws  of  Repression;  Con- 
versions; Resistance;  Donatists  overthrow  Marcellinus;  Caeci'ianus, 
surcessor;  Laws  confirmed  and  strengthened;  Reorgani/.tion  of 
Clurch  necessitated  by  conversions:  provided  for  by  Councils;  The 
Irreconcilables  


CONTENTS 


9 


PAGE 


CHAPTER  VIII 


Augustine  and  the  Manichv^j^ns,  Pelagians  and  Arians 

I,  The  Manichsean  Situation.    Augustine's  Earlier  Philosophic  Ci  mbat: 

His  general  tolerant  altitude  toward  this  Sect;  Severity  of  the  Law; 
Extent  of  Manichaeism  400;  Augustine  combats  Fortunatus;  Perse- 
cution of  399;  Faustus;  Felix;  Laws  of  the  year  405;  Augustine's 
silence;  Latter  Edicts   198 

II.  The  Pelagian  Heresy.    Its  Importance:  Pelagius;  Ctlestius;  Council 

of  Carthage;  Augustine  begins  combat;  He  sends  Orosius  to  Orient; 
Eastern  Councils;  Jerusalem  and  Dios(olis;  Orosius,  Jerome  and 
Augustine  disappointed;  Return  of  Orosius;  Africa  Aroused;  Council 
of  Carthage;  Council  of  Mileve;  Africa  dictates  to  Innocent;  He 
acquiesces;  Zosimus'  Attempt  at  Independence;  Carthage  defies  the 
Roman  Bishop;  Zosimus  gives  in;  Honorius  condemned  Pelagianism 


418  

III.  Arianism,  Count  Boniface  and  the  Vandals — Death  of  Augustine 


203 
212 


INTRODUCTION 


This  study  is  intended  to  show  the  extent  and  character 
of  the  religious  struggle  between  Christians  and  pagans 
and  between  heretics  and  the  orthodox  in  the  late  fourth 
and  early  fifth  centuries — those  eventful  years  during 
which  the  Roman  Empire  was,  for  the  first  time,  facing 
genuine  barbarian  invasion.  In  the  eyes  of  most  historians, 
until  very  recently,  the  thing  of  supreme  importance  dur- 
ing this  period  is  the  "  Germanic  Invasion  ".  This  has 
naturally  been  the  dominant  view  of  German  scholarship, 
and  the  influence  of  Gibbon  has  emphasized  it  to  a  similar 
degree  with  the  English-speaking  people.  The  modern 
Germans  have  been,  however,  chiefly  interested  in  the 
emergence  of  the  "  Teuton  " — whoever  he  may  be — upon 
the  scene,  while  the  English  have  centered  their  attention 
rather  upon  the  antique  culture  and  its  disappearance. 
But  the  protest  of  Fustel  de  Coulanges  against  the  assump- 
tions of  Teutonism  and  his  destructive  criticism,  as  a  sort 
of  scholarly  revanche,  robbed  the  imperialist  Germans  of 
much  of  their  historic  ancestry,  and  at  the  same  time  called 
attention  to  other  interests  of  the  time.  He  pointed  out 
that  although  the  Romans  themselves  seemed  fairly  insen- 
sible of  the  gradual  transformation  of  their  empire  into 
Gennanic  kingdoms,  on  the  contrary  they  were  much 
wrought  up  over  the  struggles  of  religion.^    More  recently. 

1  Fustel  de  Coulanges,  Histoire  des  institutions  politiques,  vol.  i,  bk.  3. 
L'Invasion  germanique  (Paris,  1875),  p.  354.  Mais  il  y  eut  alors  dans 
Rome  meme,  une  series  de  querelles  que  les  chroniqueurs  ne  racontent 
pas  et  dent  i!s  laissent  seulement  voir  le  charactere  general.    La  societe 

II 


12 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Dill  has  shown  how  Httle  disturbed  were  Roman  men  of 
culture  at  the  intrusion  of  those  barbarians  '  who  for  years 
had  been  their  companions  in  arms  and  whose  sack  of 
Rome  itself  did  not  lessen  confidence  "in  the  eternity  of 
their  city.  This  newer  estimate  of  the  sources  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  "  Decline  and  Fall  ",  which  has  been  presented 
in  a  detailed  study  by  Professor  Carlton  Huntley  Hayes," 
has  at  the  same  time  thrown  the  emphasis  again  upon  the 
conflict  of  religions.  It  was  perhaps  as  important  for 
Europe  and  the  world  that  the  orthodox  Christian  religion 
should  triumph  over  both  pagan  and  heretic,  as  it  was  that 
antique  culture  should  be  entrusted  to  the  slight  mercy  of 
barbarians  of  more  or  less  Germanic  origin.  In  any  case, 
that  was  the  struggle  which  absorbed  the  interest  of  the 
best  intellects  of  the  day,  and  to  that,  not  merely  as  a  chap- 
ter of  Church  history,  but  as  an  epoch  in  the  social  and 
political  history  of  Europe  this  study  is  directed. 

The  sources  are,  naturally,  much  more  abundant  for  this 
subject  than  for  the  invasions,  simply  because  men  were 
more  interested  in  it,  at  least  the  men  who  left  the  sources 
of  history.  The  value  of  these  sources  is,  however,  not 
easy  to  estimate;  and  definite  details  are  often  unrecorded. 
One  may  say  that,  as  a  whole,  they  are  scanty  for  Rome 
itself,  previous  to  its  threatened  destruction  by  Alaric, 
while  they  are  abundant  for  Africa  and  the  East.  But  the 
history  of  the  East  is  extremely  complicated  by  reason  of 
the  variety  of  its  heresies,  religions  and  civilizations. 
Africa,  on  the  other  hand,  the  residence  of  the  greatest  of 

Italienne  etait  alors  divisee  entre  le  parti  paien  et  le  parti  chretien; 
car  clans  ces  temps  oil  les  historiens  modernes  ont  cru  voir  une  lutte  de 
races,  les  hommes  etaient  surtout  occupes  d'une  grande  lutte  religieuse. 

1  Samuel  Dill,  Roman  Society  in  the  Last  Century  of  the  Western 
Empire  (London,  1908). 

"  C.  H.  Hayes,  An  Introduction  to  the  Sources  Relating  to  the  Ger- 
manic Invasions  (New  York,  1909). 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


the  Fathers,  Augustine — Africa  which  in  the  time  of  Au- 
gustine absorbed  the  thought  and  direction  of  Christendom 
— offers  a  much  more  suitable  field  for  research.  This 
•study,  therefore,  is  centered  around  the  career  of  Augus- 
tine. During  his  lifetime  took  place  that  rapid  develop- 
ment by  which  Christianity  emerged  from  dependence  on 
an  all-powerful  emperor,  Theodosius,  into  an  aggressively 
militant  supremacy  dependent  on  its  own  political  leaders. 
This  movement  Augustine  dominated  both  religiously  and 
politically.  Indeed  his  doctrines,  formulated  under  the 
stress  of  active  contest,  eventually  prevailed  throughout  the 
Christian  world. 


CHAPTER  I 


The  Situation  in  the  Year  395 
I 

As  we  are  to  trace  the  interaction  of  the  political  and 
religious  elements  in  the  struggle  which  finally  resulted  in 
the  triumph  of  orthodoxy,  the  destruction  of  paganism 
and  the  subjugation  of  heresy,  it  will  be  well  in  the  be- 
ginning to  outline  briefly  the  political  situation. 

The  year  395  which  marks  the  change  from  the  strong 
rule  of  Theodosius  to  that  of  his  weak  successors,  Arcadius 
and  Honorius,  is  the  beginning  of  this  conflict.  Theo- 
dosius, after  sixteen  years  of  almost  continuous  struggle 
with  barbarians,  usurpers,  heretics,  orthodox  and  pagans, 
had  in  that  year  at  last  been  able  to  master  all  factions. 
This  was  a  difficult  task  in  so  vast  an  empire,  composed  as 
it  was  of  many  parties.  The  higher  officials  were  ever 
anxious  for  more  power;  the  populace  was  resentful  of  its 
financial  burdens;  barbarians  were  restless  within  and 
without  the  empire;  religious  foes,  orthodox  and  hetero- 
dox of  all  descriptions,  were  ready  to  war  against  each 
other  or  to  rebel  against  the  emperor  whenever  there  was 
the  least  indication  that  they  might  thereby  gain  strength. 
To  preserve  power  among  so  many  factions  required  a 
strong  hand;  to  balance  the  contending  forces  required 
good  judgment.  Theodosius  had  power  equal  to  that  task. 
He  had  won  the  orthodox  Christians  by  submitting  him- 
self to  baptism  (380),^  by  listening  to  the  advice  of  their 

^Zosimus,  Historia  nova,  ed.  L.  Mendelssohn  (Leipzig,  1887),  iv,  29. 
14 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


15 


leader  Ambrose,  and  by  submitting  to  him  in  matters  re- 
lating to  the  cult.  Then  too.  by  a  series  of  laws  he  had 
confirmed  the  Christian  party  in  numerous  privileges  and 
had  recognized  Athanasian  Christianity  as  the  religion  of 
the  state.  ^  At  the  same  time  he  had  checked  Christian 
arrogance  and  conserved  pagan  support  by  retaining  offi- 
cials of  the  pagan  party  to  oversee  the  execution  of  the 
laws,^  he  had  also  respected  pagan  buildings  and  games.' 
He  had  reduced  the  barbarians  to  order  by  admitting  them 
into  the  empire,  by  enrolling  them  in  the  army  and  by 
accepting  their  leaders  as  members  of  his  ofificial  house- 
hold. Any  defection  at  any  time  by  any  faction  or  leader 
had  been  immediately  and  drastically  punished.  So  thor- 
oughly had  he  overcome  all  opposition  that  the  Latin  poet 
Claudian  might  well  predict  a  most  prosperous  consulate 
for  the  youthful  representative  of  the  great  Anician  fam- 
ily.* Claudian  was  undoubtedly  seeking  a  powerful  patron 
for  his  literary  genius,  yet  his  prediction  had  a  sound 
basis.  The  pagan  revolt  of  Eugenius  and  Abrogastes  had 
just  ended  with  the  battle  of  Frigidus,  September  5.  6,  394." 

Libanius,  Eunapius  and  Symmachus,  recognize  that  during  the  early 
years  of  Theodosius'  reign  there  was  complete  freedom  for  the  pagans. 

1  Codex  Theodosiaiius,  xvi,  5,  5,  (379)  ;  xvi,  2,  25,  (380)  ;  xvi,  2,  26, 
(381)  ;  xvi,  2,  27,  (390)  ;  xvi,  2,  28,  (390)  ;  xvi,  i,  2,  (380). 

'  Symmachus,  Cons.,  391.  Flavianus,  Prefect  of  It.,  391.  Richomer, 
Cons.,  384. 

^Corpus  Inscriptionum  Latinarum,  ed.  Mommsen  (Berlin,  1893),  vi, 
512. 

*  Claudian,  Panegyricus  dicttis  Probino  et  Olybrio,  ed.  Birt,  M.  G.  H. 
Auct.  AtUiq.,  vol.  x  (Berlin,  1892).  Jerome,  £/>.,  130,  7.  (Ammianus 
Marcellinus,  Rerum  gestarum  libri,  ed.  Gardthausen  (Leipsic,  1874-5), 
xxvii,  II,  declares  that  it  is  not  for  us  to  decide  whether  the  wealth  of 
the  family  was  acquired  justly  or  not.) 

*The  treatment  of  this  battle  by  our  sources  illustrates  the  change 
which  was  taking  place  between  pagan  and  Christian  history.  Claudian, 
iii,  De  Coiisulatu  f/o«oni,  98,  mentions  a  storm  at  the  time  of  the  battle. 


i6 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


when  Eugenius  had  sued  for  pardon  and  Abrogastes  had 
committed  suicide,  more  ma  jorum.  The  Roman  empire 
had  shown  that  it  possessed  an  emperor  who  could  in 
reality  rule  the  whole  empire.  To  add  to  the  security  of 
the  situation  the  church  of  the  orthodox  was  under  the 
careful  guidance  of  Ambrose;  the  pagans  were  directed  by 
the  judicious  Symmachus;  while  the  Anician  family  in 
possession  of  the  consulate  represented  both  of  these  ele- 
ments. Power  was  well  balanced.  It  was  the  unexpected 
death  of  Theodosius  on  January  17,  395,  that  removed  the 
strong  hand  and  freed  the  factions  from  control.  The 
consulship  of  Olybrius  and  Probinus  was  not  to  be  one  of 
peace  and  prosperity;  on  the  contrary,  it  marked  a  change 
of  leaders  and  the  beginning  of  a  strife  for  power  which 
did  much  to  hasten  the  dissolution  of  the  empire.  Never 

So  church  historians — Socrates,  Histoiia  Ecciesiastica  (Oxford,  1853), 
V,  25;  Sozomen,  Historia  Ecciesiastica  (Oxford,  i860),  vii,  24;  and 
Theodoret,  Historia  Ecciesiastica  (Oxford,  1854),  v,  24 — ascribe  the 
victory  to  the  miraculous  aid  of  God.  The  Cambridge  Medieval  His- 
tory (N.  Y.,  191 1 ),  vol.  i,  p.  247,  follows  the  church  historians:  "Theo- 
dosius called  God  and  Heaven  answered." 

'  The  death  of  Theodosius  affords  a  good  example  of  the  reliability 
of  our  sources.  The  Christian  authorities  would  have  us  believe  that 
this  great  defender  of  the  faith  died  at  a  ripe  old  age,  worn  out  by 
his  efforts.  Soc,  op.  cit.,  v,  26;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  i.  Theophanes 
and  Kedrenos  give  his  age  as  sixty.  The  Paschal  Chronicle 
gives  sixty-five.  Socrates  ascribes  his  death  to  anxiety  brought  on  by 
the  fatigues  of  war.  Hydatius'  Chronicle  mentions  dropsy.  But  we 
know  from  more  reliable,  though  pagan,  sources  that  he  died  before  he 
was  fifty-five  Aurelius  Victor,  a  contemporary  {Epitome,  48,  Theodo- 
sius) gives  fifty.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  confirms  this  {op.  cit.,  xxix, 
6,  15)  when  he  speaks  of  Theodosius  as  still  being  a  youth  in  the  year 
375.  Philostorgius  the  Arian,  Ecclesiasticae  Historiae  Libri  septem 
(Paris,  1673),  xi,  2,  asserts  that  Theodosius  died  as  the  result  of  sloth 
and  intemperance.  The  Paschal  Chronicle  had  the  wrong  year,  394. 
And  Zos.  {op.  cit.,  iv,  59,  6)  incorrectly  locates  the  death  on  his  jour- 
ney to  Constantinople.  He  was  buried  there  Nov.  8,  395.  Soc,  op.  cit., 
vi,  I,  Hydatius  Chronicle. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


17 


again  could  ambitious  leaders  argue  calmly  and  judiciously 
as  had  Ambrose  and  Symmachus  in  their  recent  dispute 
over  the  Altar  of  Victory.  Instead  they  took  advantage  of 
racial  and  religious  differences  to  bring  on  actual  conflicts. 
The  struggle  was  one  which  was  to  end  only  with  the  tri- 
umph of  orthodoxy. 

As  successors  Theodosius  left  two  sons,  Arcadius  and 
Honorius,  neither  of  whom  possessed  the  experience  or 
ability  necessary  to  control  the  difficult  situation.  The 
elder,  Arcadius,  was  eighteen  ^  and  had  held  the  title  of 
Augustus  since  383.^  But  whatever  experience  this  office 
had  given  would  not  compensate  for  his  total  lack  of 
ability ;  none  of  the  sources  ^  credit  him  with  competency. 
When  Theodosius  had  realized  that  his  end  was  approach- 
ing, he  had  summoned  his  younger  son,  Honorius,  from 
Constantinople  *  under  the  escort  of  Serena,  the  wife  of 
Stilicho,  and  invested  him  with  the  purple,*^  though  he  was 
not  yet  eleven."  But  responsibility  and  power  were  not  to 
be  thrust  upon  a  lad  whose  docile  Christian  character 
seems  to  have  been  accompanied  by  a  lack  of  manly  force.'' 

The  real  rulers  were  not  these  weak  and  irresponsible 

'  .A.ccording  to  Socrates,  op.  cit.,  vi,  23. 

-  Cf.  G.  Rauschen,  Jalnbiicher  der  christUchen  Kirche  unter  dein 
Kaiser  Theodosius  dein  Grossen  (Freiburg,  1897),  383,  p.  146,  note  2. 

*  Philostorgius,  op.  cit.,  xi,  3;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  8;  v,  14;  Synesius, 
De  Regno  (Migne,  P.  G.,  66);  Soc,  op.  cit.  vi,  23;  Theod., 
op.  cit.,  V,  25 ;  Jerome,  Epistles,  English  Translation  in  Nicene  and 
Post-Nicene  Fathers,  2d  series,  vol.  vi  (N.  Y.,  1893),  Ep.,  123,  17. 

*  Claudian,  iii,  Cons.  Hon.,  109  et  seq. ;  vi,  Cons.  Hon.,  92  et  seq. 
'  Ambrose,  De  obitu  Theodosii. 

8  Born  Sept.  9,  384,  at  Constantinople;  cf.  Rauschen,  op.  cit.,  p.  146. 
Theod.,  op.  cit.,  v,  25 ;  Orosius,  Historiae  adversus  paganos  libri 
septem,  M.  P.  L.  31  (Paris,  1846),  vii,  37;  Jerome,  Ep.,  123,  17;  Clau- 
dian, De  Nuptiis  Hon.  et  Mariae;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  28;  Procopius, 
De  Bella  Gothico,  i  and  ii. 


i8 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


boys,  but  the  powerful  ministers,  Rufinus  and  Stilicho,  to 
whom  Theodosius  himself  had  entrusted  much  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  East  and  West.  Stilicho  had  already  been 
placed  in  command  of  the  cavalry  and  infantry  in  the 
West,  and  Rufinus  praetorian  prefect  in  the  East;  and 
thus  by  the  inevitable  logic  of  events  the  removal  of  Theo- 
dosius left  them  rivals  for  the  larger  prize  of  imperial  con- 
trol. Already  jealous  of  each  other,^  at  the  death  of  Theo- 
dosius they  were  immediately  forced  to  seek  the  support  of 
various  factions  in  order  to  secure  their  power. 

Flavins  Rufinus,  who  owing  to  his  mistaken  policy  was 
to  control  the  East  for  but  a  short  period,  was  born  in 
Elusa  in  Aquitania — if  we  may  trust  this  much  of  Claud- 
ian's  account  of  him.^  Just  when  or  where  he  entered  the 
imperial  services  is  uncertain.^  By  390  *  he  was  master 
of  the  offices  and  in  392  he  became  praetorian  prefect  and 
chief  minister  to  Theodosius.  Philostorgius  ^  describes  his 
robust  and  commanding  appearance,  his  fierceness  of  eye 
and  grace  of  speech.  He  possessed  an  insatiable  desire 
for  gold,"  to  gain  which  he  sold  offices  indiscriminately. 
He  was  able  to  win  power  though  not  to  preserve  it. 

Stilicho,  whose  policies  were  to  guide  the  empire  in  the 
West  for  the  next  thirteen  years,  was  of  Vandal  origin.' 

1  Claudian,  In  RnHniim,  i,  297  et  seq. 
^Ibid.,  i,  137,  written  395  or  396. 

3  Symmachus,  AurcUi  Syminachi  quae  supersunt  ed.  O.  Seeck.  M. 
G.  H.,  Auct.  Aiitiq.,  vol.  vi  (Berlin,  1883),  Ep.,  iii,  81-9,  would  indicate 
that  his  earliest  service  was  at  Rome.  Seeck.  Proleg.,  139.  thinks  the 
date  was  382;  Claudian,  In  Rufinuni,  i,  171  et  seq.,  seems  to  indicate 
Constantinople. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  x,  22,  3. 

*  Philostorgius,  op.  cit.,  xi,  3 ;  confirmed  by  Eunapius,  Fragmenta 
Hisioricorum  Graecoriim,  ed.  Midler,  1868,  Fr.  63,  vol.  iv,  p.  42. 

®  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  i;  Eunapius,  op.  cit.;  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  i,  187; 
Jerome,  Ep.,  60,  16. 
'  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  38. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


19 


In  384  we  find  him  in  the  imperial  service  undertaking  an 
embassy  to  Babylon.  He  was  married  to  Serena,  the  niece 
of  Theodosins,  and  successively  filled  the  offices  of  count 
of  the  royal  cavalry/  count  of  the  home  horse  and  foot 
soldiery,  commander  of  the  army  in  Thrace  385,-  and  com- 
mander in  chief  393.®  Were  it  not  for  the  Theodosian 
Code  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  estimate  the  nature  of 
his  administration.  With  Claudian  *  he  is  the  paragon  of 
virtues,  in  every  way  the  savior  of  Rome.  But  we  realize 
that  Stilicho  was  Claudian's  patron,  and  such  lavish  praise 
may  have  an  economic  interpretation.  Olympiodorus,  in 
a  description  which  Zosimus  has  preserved,'  tells  us  that 
Stilicho  was  the  most  moderate  and  just  of  all  men  who 
possessed  great  authority  in  his  time ;  and,  although  a  rela- 
tive of  Theodosius,  he  never  conferred  military  rank  for 
money  during  his  twenty-three  years  of  power,  nor  con- 
verted the  stipends  of  the  soldiers  to  his  own  use.  Euna- 
pius  of  Sardis,®  who  as  a  contemporary  looked  with  dis- 
favor on  Stilicho's  apparent  irresolution,  classes  Stilicho 
as  equally  guilty  with  Rufinus  of  confiscations  and  bribery. 
But  inasmuch  as  Eunapius  exhibits  a  tendency  to  credit 
all  current  evil  rumors  regarding  the  characters  he  is  de- 
scribing, and  as  he  w^as  living  in  the  East,  where  naturally 
Stilicho  was  very  much  in  disfavor,  we  are  disinclined  to 
accept  his  estimate  in  this  case.    Our  only  sure  guide  to 

^  Claudian,  Lans  Serenae,  190. 

-  C.  I.  L.,  vi,  1730,  1734;  ix,  4051. 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  vii,  4,  18;  vii,  9,  3;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  34. 

*  Claudian,  De  Considatu  Stiliclionis. 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit,  V,  34.  For  this  period  Zosimus  relies  on  Olympiodorus 
and  Eunapius,  from  whom  he  extracts  without  an  acknowledgment  of 
his  source.  Unfortunately  the  present  instance  is  not  the  only  one 
where  Zosimus  quotes  two  mutually  contradictory  sources  for  the 
same  historic  fact. 

"  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  I. 


20 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  character  of  his  administration  is  the  laws  passed  dur- 
ing it,  and  the  total  impression  which  they  leave  is  that  his 
policy  was  tolerant,  just  and  efficient/ 

The  inevitable  struggle  between  Rufinus  and  Stilicho 
broke  out  at  once.  Technically  this  struggle  was  based  on 
Stilicho's  assertion  that  Theodosius  had  bequeathed  to  him 
the  guardianship  of  both  princes  and  that  this  consequently 
entailed  the  supervision  of  the  whole  empire.  Opinions 
which  have  reached  us  as  to  the  validity  of  this  claim  are 
numerous  and  varied.  Claudian,  always  pro-Stilicho, 
affirms  it  often  and  emphatically.^  Nevertheless  he  shows 
no  positive  proof  for  it  and  he  admits  that  there  were  no 
witnesses  to  the  bequest.^  Claudian's  unsupported  evi- 
dence is  not  of  much  value;  but  Ambrose,  who  as  a  friend 
of  Rufinus  *  ought  to  be  just  to  him,  states  Stilicho's 
claims  in  much  the  same  manner  as  Claudian.  Ambrose, 
who  was  present  at  the  death  of  Theodosius,  asserted  in 
the  funeral  oration  ^  delivered  forty  days  later  at  Milan, 

^  Cf.  infra,  p.  47  et  scq.  for  those  on  toleration  and  conciliation. 
He  took  an  interest  in  the  corporations  and  ciiriales,  Cod.  Theod., 
xii,  I,  142,  143,  144,  146;  xii,  19,  I,  2,  3;  the  post,  viii,  5,  53-55;  corn- 
supplies,  xiv,  15,  4  and  5;  xiv,  19,  i. 

2  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  5-6;  iii.  Cons.  Hon.,  143  et  seq.;  iv,  Cons. 
Hon.,  433. 

3  Claudian,  iii,  Cons.  Hon.,  142;  Cunctos  discedere  .  .  .  jubet. 
*  Ambrose,  Ep.,  52. 

5  Ambrose,  de  Ohitu  Theod.  "  De  filiis  enim  nihil  habebat  novum 
quod  conderet  .  .  .  nisi  ut  eos  praesenti  commendavit  parenti."  Richter, 
De  Stiiichone,  24,  25,  stamps  this  scene  as  a  device ;  also  Birt,  op.  cit., 
Prol.  28;  and  Koch,  Stilicho  und  die  Ereignisse  der  lahr  395-398,  in 
Rhein.  Mus.,  xliv,  591.  Richter  holds  that  Honorius  and  Ambrose  say 
this  in  order  to  strengthen  the  Emperor's  confidence  in  Stilicho.  Birt 
supposes  that  the  Emperor  had  charged  Stilicho  not  to  undertake  hos- 
tilities against  the  East  and  that  Stilicho's  claim  to  supremacy  was  not 
made  until  after  the  death  of  Rufinus.  Rauschen,  op.  cit.,  446,  raises 
the  question  as  to  whether  a  personal  rather  than  a  political  guardian- 
ship was  not  intended. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


21 


in  the  presence  of  the  court  and  the  army,  that  Theodosius 
had  commended  both  princes  to  Stilicho.  Olympiodorus/ 
the  Greek  historian  of  Thebes,  confirms  Claudian  and  Am- 
brose. The  vagueness  of  the  commendation,  however, 
seems  but  a  slight  basis  for  a  claim  to  dominion  over  the 
entire  Roman  empire.  The  contemporary  Eunapius  ^  uses 
the  same  term  for  Rufinus  and  Stilicho — both  were  guar- 
dians, tutores.  Authorities  who  oppose  Stilicho  are  apt 
to  quote  Zosimus  in  support  of  their  position,  apparently 
not  realizing  that  his  work  is  of  little  value  in  itself ;  that 
it  was  not  compiled  until  the  last  half  of  the  fifth  century; 
and  that,  while  in  the  extracts  from  Eunapius  ^  he  opposes 
Stilicho's  claim,  when  he  quotes  Olympiodorus  he  favors 
it.''  Orosius,'^  who  wrote  in  the  year  417,  and  whose  au- 
thorities are  unknown  to  us,  speaks  of  the  power  of  both 
as  equal.  In  any  case  Stilicho  advanced  his  pretention  to 
the  guardianship  of  the  whole  empire,  and  this  was  a  suffi- 
cient pretext  for  an  almost  inevitable  struggle.  Once  the 
pretext,  or  justification,  was  found,  it  was  easy  to  force 
on  the  conflict.  There  were  not  only  religious  enmities,  hos- 
tile sects,  creeds  and  religions  to  draw  upon,  but  the  empire 
contained,  as  well,  unassimilated  hordes  of  barbarian 
soldiery,  ready  for  an  enterprise  and  eager  for  plunder. 
Early  in  the  year  the  Goths  were  restless.    The  sources 

1  Olympiodorus  of  Thebes,  Miiller,  op.  cit.,  iv,  58 ;  Photius,  Bib. 
Cod.,  80.  "  Narrat  ilaque  Stilichcnetn  ad  magnam  pervenisse  poten- 
tiam,  quiim  eum  Theodosius  Magnus  parens  ipse  suis  liberis  Arcadio 
adque  Honorio,  tutorem  imposuisset "  (395).  This  work  covers  the 
years  407-426. 

'  Eunapius,  o/>.  cit.,  Frag.,  63,  vol.  iv ;  Miiller,  "  Hie  Autem  et  Stilicho 
erant  tutores  fiiiorum  Theodosii." 
'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  iv,  57 ;  iv,  59. 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  4;  "Quippe  dicebat  ab  Theodosio  morituo  sibi 
datum  in  mandatis  ut  omni  cura  principem  utrumque  complectereLur." 

*  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  37,  i. 


22 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


are  confused  as  to  the  reason  for  this.  Claudian  ^  quite 
naturally  charges  it  to  the  account  of  Rufinus,  but  this, 
charge  would  not  count  for  much  if  it  were  unsupported. 
Zosimus  ^  says  that  Rufinus  incited  the  rebellion  knowing 
that  Alaric  was  disgruntled  at  not  having  received  a  mili- 
tary command — magister  militum — similar  to  that  granted 
to  Gainas,  who  commanded  the  Goths  at  Frigidus.  Jor- 
danes,  writing  very  much  later,  in  the  reign  of  Justinian, 
and  relying  on  Cassiodorus  as  his  source,*  assigns  as  the 
cause  the  refusal  of  the  customary  subsidies.  We  know 
that  Rufinus  had  been  disappointed  in  his  plan  for  marry- 
ing his  daughter  to  the  emperor,  that  the  troops  of  the 
empire  were  in  the  West  with  his  rival  Stilicho,  and  that 
at  home  he  was  surrounded  by  such  enemies  as  invariably 
are  made  by  a  policy  of  religious  intolerance  and  political 
despotism.  It  seems  probable  that,  as  one  of  the  means  for 
supporting  his  cause,  he  tried  to  take  advantage  of  the 
restlessness  of  the  barbarians,  which  Eunapius  shows  *  ex- 
isted even  before  the  death  of  Theodosius.  In  February 
or  March  the  Goths  chose  Alaric  as  leader  and  began  their 
incursion  into  the  East.  We  have  no  reliable  account  of 
their  movements.    According  to  Claudian,^  our  sole  au- 

'  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  22 ;  Rauschen,  op.  ext.,  p.  435,  considers  Clau- 
dian's  charge  as  ill-bred  slander;  Tillemont,  Histoire  des  Empereurs 
(Paris,  1690-1738),  V,  426,  credits  Claudian. 

2  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  5. 

^Jordanes,  Z?^  rebus  Geticis,  ed.  Mommsen  in  M.  G.  li.,Auct.  Antiq., 
V  (Berlin,  1882),  xxix,  146. 

*  Eunapius,  op.  ext.,  vol.  iv.  Frag.  60.  See  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  iv,  56; 
Giildenpenning,  A.,  Geschichte  des  ostrdmischen  Reichs  (Halle,  1885), 
p.  2,  connects  the  uprising  with  Theodosius'  death,  "  Der  Tod  dieses 
weit  audi  unler  den  Barbaren  gefiirchteten  Gegners  andererseits  das 
Signal  zu  Aufstanden  im  Innern  wie  zu  Einbriichen  von  aussen 
geworden  ist." 

*  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  30  to  100. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95 


23 


thority,  Cappadocia  and  the  basin  of  the  Halys  were  rav- 
aged and  all  Cilicia  overrun.  Syria  was  invaded  and  the 
land  between  the  Adriatic  and  the  Euxine  was  devastated. 
Thessaly,  Pannonia,  Mysia  and  Thrace  having  been  laid 
waste,  Alaric  approached  Constantinople,  and  devastated 
the  surrounding  country,  Rufinus'  estate  alone  excepted. 
Then  Rufinus  put  on  the  Gothic  costume  and  went  to 
Alaric's  camp.  And  after  their  interview  Alaric  withdrew 
westward  to  Macedonia  and  Greece. 

At  this  same  time  the  Huns  were  invading  the  East. 
Jerome  ^  tells  us  that  numerous  monasteries  were  sacked, 
that  rivers  of  blood  were  shed,  that  Antioch  was  besieged 
and  the  cities  on  the  Halys,  Cydnus,  Orontus  and  the  Eu- 
phrates invested,  that  troops  of  captives  were  taken  in 
Arabia,  Phoenicia,  Palestine  and  Arabia.  He  also  com- 
plains ^  of  the  absence  of  the  Roman  army,  detained  in  the 
West  by  civil  war.  Rufinus  has  been  made  responsible 
by  Sozomen for  all  these  disasters.  Claudian  *  and  Oro- 
sius  ^  accuse  him  of  having  invited  barbarians  into  the  em- 
pire, not  distinguishing  between  Huns  and  Goths.  Sozo- 
men, writing  about  454,  definitely  charges  him  with  bring- 
ing in  the  Huns.  There  is  evidence  that  Rufinus  did  try  to 
support  himself  by  the  barbarian  forces  at  hand. 

Early  in  the  year  395  Stilicho  crossed  the  Alps,  con- 
ducted a  short  campaign,  and  concluded  with  the  Franks 
and  the  Alemanni  a  peace  which  was  to  last  for  a  hundred 
years.  Having  collected  troops  he  started  East.  He 
crossed  the  Alps,*  marched  through  Pannonia  into  Thes- 

1  Jerome,  Bp.  60,  De  Nepotiano,  written  396. 
'Jerome,  Ep.  77,  Ad  Oceanum. 
'  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  i. 

*  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  22  et  seq. 
"  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  37. 

*  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  124. 


24 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


saly  and  prepared  to  battle  with  the  insurgent  Goths.  ^  In 
the  meantime  Rufinus,  greatly  frightened  at  the  approach 
of  his  rival,  persuaded  Arcadius  to  sign  ^  the  order  com- 
manding Stilicho  to  evacuate  Greece  and  to  send  the  east- 
ern legions  back  to  Constantinople.  Stilicho's  action  casts 
significant  light  upon  the  theory  of  the  unity  of  the  empire. 
He  complied  with  the  emperor's  command  ^  and  returned 
to  Italy.  The  eastern  troops  under  the  command  of  Gainas, 
a  Goth,  marched  to  Constantinople,  but  on  the  way  formed 
a  plot  against  Rufinus.  When  the  Emperor  and  his  prae- 
torian prefect  rode  forth  to  review  the  army,  Rufinus  was 
surrounded  and  killed,  November  27th,  395.*  Claudian's 
poem,  as  a  whole,  implies  that  Stilicho  was  accessory  to  this 
plot,  and  Zosimus  ^  states  it,  though  the  evidence  is  so  slight 
and  contradictory  "  as  to  be  of  little  real  value.  Stilicho's 
recall  had  left  Alaric  free  to  ravage  Greece.  Claudian's 
interest  in  Greece  ceases  after  Stilicho  had  left  it,  and  so, 
for  Alaric's  campaign  until  the  return  of  Stilicho,  we  are 
forced  to  rely  mainly  on  Zosimus,  who  strangely  confuses 
Stilicho's  first  and  second  expeditions.  From  him  we 
learn  that  Gerontius  commanded  the  pass  of  Thermopylae, 
a  post  given  him  by  Rufinus.''    After  a  feeble  resistance  in 

1  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  171. 
^Ibid.,  ii,  144-168. 

^  Ibid.,  ii,  217;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  7.  That  the  Empire  was  still  re- 
garded as  a  unit  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  edicts  of  the  emperors 
are  slill  issued  in  the  name  of  both  emperors. 

*  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  400-427;  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  i,  for  date. 
Chron.  Paschale. 

Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  7,  8.    Rauschen,  op.  cit.,  p.  442,  does  not  credit 

this. 

*  Claud'an,  de  Cons.  St.,  ii,  212.  Claudian  never  mentions  Gainas,  and 
in  places  seems  to  imply  that  the  uprising  was  spontaneous  on  the  part 
of  the  soldiers. 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  5 ;  cf.  Eunapius,  Vita  Maximi. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395  25 

the  pass,  the  barbarians  devastated  Boeotia,  slight  opposi- 
tion being  offered  by  the  Proconsul  Antiochus,  another  of 
Rufinus'  appointees.  Perhaps  the  presence  of  the  Huns  in 
the  East  prevented  the  sending  of  troops  to  reinforce  these 
officials.  Boeotia  and  Central  Greece  were  laid  waste. 
Thebes  escaped,  thanks  to  its  walls  and  the  hurry  of  the 
Goths  to  reach  Athens.  From  Athens  Alaric  passed  on 
into  the  Peloponnesus  and  took  Corinth,  Argos  and  Sparta.^ 
Stilicho  seems  to  have  made  a  second  expedition  into 
Greece  in  396.^  Just  why  he  should  return  is  difficult  to 
determine.  The  sources  for  this  campaign  are  so  con- 
fused as  to  be  almost  unintelligible.  The  date  even  of  the 
expedition  may  be  argued  as  395,  396  or  397.  But  from 
the  general  sequence  in  Claudian,  supported  by  Jerome.^ 
who  locates  the  Goths  in  Greece  in  396,  the  weight  of  evi- 
dence is  for  396.  Stilicho  seems  to  have  gained  a  victory,* 
but  again  the  barbarians  escaped.  This  may  have  been  due 
to  another  command  from  Arcadius,  or  to  a  treaty  public 
or  private,  or  to  the  conduct  of  Stilicho,  who,  as  Zosimus 
claims,  gave  himself  up  to  luxury  and  indulgence  while 
his  soldiers  turned  to  free-booting  expeditions,  or — were 
we  to  accept  the  year  397 — to  the  uprising  of  Gildo.  In 
any  case,  Stilicho  left  Greece  a  second  time  with  Alaric 
there.  At  this  point  an  event  in  Africa — the  revolt  of 
Gildo — adds  a  new  element  to  the  already  complex  situa- 
tion, and  shifts  the  center  of  our  interests.^  Such,  in  hur- 
ried outline,  was  the  general  situation  in  395.  Let  us  now 
glance  at  the  character  of  our  most  important  sources. 

»  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  6;  Claudian,  In  Ruf.,  ii,  179-191;  de  Bella  Golhico, 
180-193. 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  7.    He  confuses  the  two  expeditions. 

•  Jerome,  Ep.  60. 

*  Claudian,  iv,  Cons.  Hon.,  461-483. 
15  Cf.  infra.  Chap.  3. 


26 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


II 

Religious  history  is  much  less  definite  than  political  his- 
tory. In  the  place  of  events,  movements  of  men,  and  de- 
scriptions of  states,  it  gives  us  beliefs,  theological  discus- 
sions— intangible  and  elusive  phenomena  of  thought.  Its 
sources  are  hard  to  estimate.  It  is  not  easy  to  extract  from 
treatises  on  dogma  or  narrow  partisan  accounts  the  real 
story  of  religious  conflicts.  Difficult  as  this  is  when  the 
struggle  is  directly  between  two  religions  or  between  a  re- 
ligion and  a  government,  it  becomes  doubly  so  when  we 
have  such  a  complexity  of  religious  struggles  as  existed  in 
the  period  under  review. 

Our  sources  are  fairly  numerous  but  quite  biased.  Yet 
they  would  be  at  once  more  numerous  and  less  one-sided 
had  it  not  been  for  the  triumph  of  the  one  orthodox  party, 
which  brought  with  it  the  suppression  of  all  the  literature 
of  the  opposition  and  the  destruction  of  most  of  that  al- 
ready existing.  That  pagan  literature  was  no  longer  being 
produced  was,  however,  no  sure  sign  that  the  pagan  spirit 
was  suppressed ; — an  abolition  of  external  rites  by  no  means 
necessarily  entailed  a  renunciation  of  beliefs  on  the  part 
of  the  persecuted. 

The  histories  of  the  contemporary  pagan,  Eunapius  of 
Sardis,  which  covered  the  years  268-404,  would  be  of 
greatest  value  to  us  for  the  years  just  previous  to  404; 
but,  vm fortunately  they  are  preserved  only  in  the  merest 
fragments.  Another  pagan,  Olympiodorus,  wrote  twenty- 
two  books  of  history  as  a  continuation  of  Eunapius.  They 
covered  the  twenty  years  on  contemporaneous  history  from 
407  to  427.  This  work  too  is  lost — all  except  fragments 
which  are  preserved  in  Photius,  and  the  ideas  it  gave  to 
the  later  historians,  Sozomen,  Socrates  and  Zosinius. 
Arian  history  suffered  the  same  fate  as  pagan  history.^ 

'  We  have  an  edict  commanding  heretical  literature  to  be  burned, 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


27 


Philostorgius'  (fl.  380-412)  defense  of  the  Eunomians  and 
Arians,  were  it  preserved,  would  throw  much  light  on  the 
story  of  that  heresy.  As  it  is,  only  the  merest  fragments  ex- 
ist in  Photius  who  says :  "Ceteriim  haec  historia  encomium 
guidon  est  haereticorum:  orthodoxornm  autem  crimina- 
tio  atque  vituperatio  potius  quam  historia".  So  the 
source-material  for  but  one  side  of  our  story  remains; 
whatever  was  written  for  the  oposition  was  destroyed. 
However,  the  greater  part  of  its  story  was  never  written. 
It  would  not  have  been  advisable  to  do  so  in  the  days  when 
orthodoxy  was  triumphant.  Augustine,  in  his  City  of 
God,^  warns  his  opponents  to  be  careful  how  they  attempt 
to  reply.  So  we  are  forced  to  rely  almost  wholly  on  the 
victors  themselves  for  the  account  of  how  this  success  was 
attained,  and  naturally  these  same  victors  are  more  inter- 
ested in  showing  the  glory  of  the  truths  which  prevailed 
than  they  are  in  setting  forth  the  possibly  questionable 
means  by  which  they  were  sometimes  brought  to  triumph. 

Strangely  enough  in  this  surcharged  atmosphere  we 
have  one  cool-headed  writer — and  he  is  the  main  source 
for  the  period  of  Stilicho's  rule.  Claudius  Claudianus  did 
not  enter  the  lists  as  pagan,  heretic  or  orthodox;  and  as  a 
result  he  seems  to  have  been  misunderstood — at  least  by 
the  orthodox — and  so  to  have  become  a  puzzle  to  all  sub- 
sequent historians.  We  know  little  of  his  life.  Born  prob- 
ably in  Egypt,-  he  came  to  Rome  before  395,^  and  there 

Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  34  (398)  :  "We  command  that  their  books,  which 
contain  the  substance  of  criminal  teachings,  be  sought  out  with  the 
utmost  care  and  burnt  before  the  eyes  of  the  magistrates." 

1  Aug.,  City  of  God,  v,  26. 

2  Claudian,  Carmina  Minora,  19,  3;  22,  56  and  59;  21,  4;  22,  20; 
Sidonius  ApoHinaris  (Leipsic,  1895),  ix,  275.  His  father  may  have 
been  the  Claudianus,  brother  of  Maximus,  Julian's  teacher,  mentioned 
by  Eunapius.    Vit.  Soph.,  acc.  to  Birt,  op.  cit.,  Introd.,  p.  6. 

*  Prosper,C/!ron.,  395. 


28 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


began  to  write  Latin  verse.'  His  object  was  to  win  the 
support  of  a  wealthy  and  powerful  patron.  As  we  have 
seen,  he  made  advances  to  the  consuls  elect,  Probinus  and 
Olybrius  of  the  great  Anician  house.^  Not  receiving 
recognition  from  them,  he  turned  first  to  Rufinus  Synesius 
Hadrianus,  count  of  the  sacred  largesses  in  395,  master  of 
the  offices  400-405  and  praetorian  prefect  of  Italy  413-416; 
then  to  Florentinus;  and  finally  to  Stilicho.  Probinus  and 
Olybrius  apparently  did  not  recognize  his  value  as  a  liter- 
ary agent  ^  and  did  not  respond  to  the  panegyric  of  394. 
An  unfortunate  remark  *  caused  a  violent  breach  with 
Hadrianus,  and  Claudian's  ruin  was  prevented  only  by  an 
apology.'"'  By  397  he  seems  to  have  been  in  full  favor  with 
Stilicho,*  and  thereafter  all  his  energies  are  devoted  to  the 
praise  of  that  general.  He  himself  tells  us  that  he  was 
absent  from  Rome  395  to  400.'  His  first  post  ^  entitled 
him  to  wear  a  girdle  as  a  member  in  the  militia.  He  was 
advanced  to  higher  dignities,  however,  and  from  the  statue 
erected  to  him  at  the  command  of  the  emperor  and  senate 
we  learn  that  he  was  a  tribune  and  notary.®  His  fortunes 
were  also  further  improved  by  a  suitable  marriage  with  an 
African  matron,  who  had  been  won  through  a  letter  of 

'  Claudian,  ad  Prob.,  13. 

2  Claudian,  Panegyriciis  dictus  Probino  et  Olybrio  Consulibus. 
^  Claudian,  £/>.  ad  Prob.;  ad  Olybr. 

*  Claudian,  Carm.  Min.,  21. 

^  Claudian,  Carm.  Min.,  22.  From  these  two  poems  the  legend  has 
grown  up  of  Claudian's  vain  appeal  to  his  countryman,  Hadrianus,  after 
Stilicho's  overthrow. 

"  Claudian,  iii.  Consul.  Hon. 

^  Claudian,  Praef.  Consul.  Stil.,  iii. 

*  Claudian,  Ad  Hadri,  v,  51,  52. 

"  C.  I.  L.,  vi,  1710;  "  C.  Claudiano,  viro  clarissimo  tribune  et 
notario." 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S05 


29 


introduction  from  Serena/  He  disappears  after  404,  and 
Birt  has  concluded  that  that  was  the  year  of  his  death.^ 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Claudian's  poems  are  chiefly 
panegyrical  or  invective,  and  therefore  necessarily  biased, 
they  contain  much  reliable  historical  information.  Claud- 
ian  was  a  contemporary,  holding  office  at  the  court  and 
vitally  interested  in  all  that  concerned  Stilicho,  the  leading 
man  of  his  day.  He  may  have  colored  facts  or  omitted 
them,  but  inasmuch  as  he  was  writing  for  those  as  well  in- 
formed as  himself  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  invent.  All  who 
have  studied  Claudian  carefully  agree  that  he  is  trust- 
worthy along  political  lines.  His  religious  position  has 
caused  historians  much  discussion.  Yet  it  need  not.  In  an 
atmosphere  of  pagans  and  Christians,  orthodox  and  her- 
etics, indifferents,  irresolutes  and  cowards,  Claudian's  posi- 
tion was  that  of  his  master,  Stilicho,  and  may  be  summed 
up  in  one  word — toleration.  He  was  of  no  sect:  he  was 
indifferent  towards  all  religious  questions.  To  his  contem- 
porary, Augustine — and  no  one  of  the  time  could  have 
been  better  informed  concerning  the  exact  religious  posi- 
tion of  all  men  of  note — Claudian  was  neither  pagan  nor 
Christian.  For  all  adherents  of  the  pagan  religion  Augus- 
tine uses  the  term  gentiles  or  pagani;  but  Claudian  he 
merely  terms  an  "  alien  from  the  name  of  Christ."  '  This 
colorless  attribute  is  borne  out  by  the  poems  of  Claudian 
themselves.  Throughout  his  writings  it  is  impossible  to 
detect  any  religious  leanings.    As  Roman  poetry  they  arc 

'  Claudian,  Carm.  Miit.,  31. 

'  Birt,  op.  cit.,  59.  It  is  rather  a  far  stretch  of  historical  imagina- 
tion to  conclude  that  his  fall  followed  that  of  Stil'cho  in  408  owing  to 
an  epigram  (no.  21)  which  had  offended  Hadrian.  This  is  Dill's 
conclusion  (op.  cit.,  p.  44). 

*  Augustine,  De  Civitate  Dei,  v,  26,  "A  Christi  nomine  alienus." 


30 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


naturally  filled  with  a  mass  of  pagan  allusions,  yet  these 
are  purely  literary  and  need  not  imply  that  the  author  ac- 
cepts or  worships  the  gods  mentioned.  At  the  same  time 
some  of  his  poems  have  equally  Christian  allusions.  He 
praises  Venus.  Mars,  Jupiter,  Dea  Roma  and  Christ  quite 
indiscriminately.  At  times  in  his  allusions  he  seems  to 
praise  Christianity ;  ^  at  other  times  to  ridicule  it.^  In  his 
use  of  sources,  we  find  the  same  mingling  of  Christianity 
and  Paganism :  Horace,  Virgil,  Lucian,  Ovid,  Lucretius, 
Juvenal,  Ambi-ose,  Minucius  Felix,  Lactantius,  TertuUian. 
Eusebius  and  the  Bible." 

Such  syncretistic  tolerance  naturally  was  less  and  less 
understood  as  the  struggle  developed,  and  one  may  see  the 
process  in  his  treatment  by  Orosius.  Orosius's  informa- 
tion was  largely  secondary  and  drawn  from  Augustine; 
but  now  Augustine's  "  alien  from  the  name  of  Christ  "  be- 
comes "  a  most  obstinate  pagan."  *  We  naturally  prefer 
to  accept  Augustine's  characterization ;  and  yet  Claudian 
has  come  down  through  the  ages  branded  as  a  "  pernicious 
pagan,"  and  with  this  modern  writers  are  prone  to  agree.® 

'  Claudian,  Carmen  Miii.,  32,  de  Salvatore. 

'  Claudian,  Carmen  Min.,  50  (Birt,  op.  cit.,  Intro.  64,  note  2).  "I  pray 
you  by  the  ashes  of  Paul,  by  the  temple  of  old  Peter,  duke  James,  not 
to  defame  my  verses.  If  you  spare  them,  may  Thomas  protect  you, 
Bartholomew  be  at  your  side  in  battles,  the  aid  of  the  saints  prevent 
the  barbarians  from  passing  the  Alps  and  St.  Susanna  breath  force  to 
your  heart."    Cf.  In  Eut.,  i,  316;  ii,  Pref.,  27. 

'Birt,  of),  cit.,  introduction;  Glover,  Life  and  Letters  in  the  Fourth 
Century  (Cambridge,  1901),  242. 

*  Paul  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  35.  "Poeta  quidem  eximius  sed  paganus 
pervicacissimus."  Boissier,  La  Fin  du  paganisme  (Paris,  1891),  vol.  2, 
p.  281.    "  St.  Augustine  tells  us  that  Claudian  was  pagan." 

^  Dill.,  op.  cit.,  p.  37;  Gaston  Boissier,  in  loco,  ii,  281;  Glover,  op.  cit., 
204;  Tueffel-Schwabe,  History  of  Roman  Literature  (London,  1900), 
p.  439.  In  studying  Claud'an  for  the  religious  question  one  must  be  on 
his  guard  as  to  the  edition  used.    There  are  but  two  editions  that  con- 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


31 


There  remains  the  perplexing  question  how  a  pagan,  so 
pernicious,  could  express  the  Christian  sentiment  of  the 
poem  De  Salvatore.  The  incompatibility  had  led  to  the 
expurgation  of  Claudian  to  suit  his  pagan  reputation.  It 
was  only  in  1892  that  Theodore  Birt.  in  preparing  an  edi- 
tion of  Claudian  for  the  Monumenta  Germaniae  His- 
torica,^  decided  that  the  Christian  element  was  genuine 
and  restored  it.  To  justify  this,  however,  he  swung  to  the 
other  extreme  and  made  Claudian  out  to  be  a  Christian  in 
all  except  baptism,  urging  for  this  other  examples  of 
Romans  who  deferred  baptism  until  near  the  time  of  their 
death.^  This  certainly  seems  to  be  going  too  far.  There 
is  little  evidence  for  such  a  claim.  It  would  seem  safer  to 
take  Claudian's  works  and  Augustine's  statement  to  indi- 
cate that  he,  like  his  great  patron,  was  not  concerned  per- 
sonally with  religion.  It  is  not  possible  to  assign  him  to 
either  party. 

More  positive  light  is  thrown  on  the  religious  situation 
by  the  correspondence  of  Ouintius  Aurelius  Symmachus 
(340-402  or  409),  the  leading  pagan  of  the  last  half  of  the 

tain  all  of  his  works,  including  those  with  a  Oiristian  bias;  Theo- 
dore Birt,  op.  cil.,  and  J.  Koch,  Teubiwr  Classics  (Leipzig,  1895), 
which  makes  use  of  Birt's  restorations.  The  editions  of  Pulmannus, 
Scaliger,  Gesner,  Konig  and  Jeep  are  expurgated. 

*  Birt.  op.  cit.,  intra.,  p.  63 ;  J.  H.  E.  Crees,  Claudian  as  an  Historical 
Authority  (Cambridge,  1908),  follows  Birt. 

'  Constantine  long  delayed'  his  baptism  and  Valentinian  died  unbap- 
tized.  Theodosius  lived  many  years  an  unbaptized  Christian,  and  was 
baptized  only  when  he  feared  that  he  would  die.  The  great  and  wealthy 
Petronius  Probus  was  baptized  only  at  his  death,  395.  The  gaining  of 
this  leader  of  the  Anician  family  was  a  great  step  for  the  Christians. 
Jerome  had  previously  gained  the  women  of  the  family.  They  were 
the  ones  to  oppose  the  restoration  of  Paganism  in  409.  So  important 
was  this  conversion  that  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  has  the  sarcophagus  of 
Petronius  Probus  preserved  in  the  same  chapel  with  a  column  from 
Solomon's  Temple  and  Michael  Angelo's  Pieta. 


32 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


fourth  century.  He  was  of  a  powerful  family;  his  grand- 
father, Aurelius  Julianus  Symmachus,  was  consul  in  330; 
his  father,  Lucius  Aurelius  Avianius,  was  prefect  364-5 ; 
he  himself  held  the  consulship  in  391 ;  his  son  became  prae- 
tor in  397;  his  grandson  was  consul  in  446  and  his  great- 
grandson  was  father-in-law  to  Boethius;  finally  his  two 
great-great-grandsons  were  consuls  in  522.  Historically 
his  nine  hundred  letters,  his  reports  to  the  emperor  and  the 
fragments  of  his  orations  give  us  very  little  information.^ 
This  may  be  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  they  were  edited  by 
his  son,  Fabius  Symmachus,  shortly  after  the  father's 
death  and  possibly  all  dangerous  political  statements  were 
removed.  A  more  plausible  explanation  is  that  Symma- 
chus was  not  a  great  statesman,  and  his  chief  interest  was 
in  keeping  the  populace  suplied  with  corn  and  games.  His 
letters  are  literary  efforts  devised  on  petty  themes — intro- 
ductions, congratulations,  intercessions,  appeals.  The  only 
time  that  he  gives  us  real  political  history  is  in  his  letter  to 
Stilicho  regarding  the  revolt  of  Gildo.  Even  here  his 
chief  interest  is  in  the  food  supply  of  Rome,  perhaps 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  he  had  been  proconsul  of 
Africa  at  the  time  of  the  revolt  of  Firmus  (373). 

In  the  writings  of  Symmachus  as  in  those  of  Claudian 
there  are  but  few  references  to  religion.  He  never  men- 
tions Christianity,  while  he  discusses  pagan  practices  only 
with  leading  pagans  such  as  Praetextatus.^  An  occasional 
demand  that  an  erring  vestal  virgin  be  surrendered  to  the 
pontifical  college  for  punishment,^  the  record  of  the  fes- 
tival of  Magna  Mater,*  or  arrangements  for  the  games,"  is 

'  Seeck,  op.  cit. 

'  Symmachus,  Epp.,  i,  46,  47,  48,  51  ;  cf.  Epp.,  ii,  36,  34,  53. 
^  Ibid.,  ix,  147,  148. 

*  Ibid.,  X,  3.  ^  Ibid.,  v,  62 ;  ix,  125. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


33 


all  that  he  gives.  In  his  plea  for  the  restoration  ^  of  the 
altar  of  victory,  he  shows  that  he  believes  the  position  of 
the  empire  to  be  endangered  by  the  neglect  of  the  old  re- 
ligion ;  yet  he  is  not  a  rude  or  fanatical  antagonist  of  Chris- 
tianity. A  survey  of  his  correspondence  shows  how  the 
pagans  and  Christians  of  his  times  were  living  harmon- 
iously side  by  side. 

Eleven  of  his  letters  ^  were  addressed  to  Praetextatus, 
one  of  the  most  learned  theologians  and  most  enthusiastic 
devotees  in  the  ranks  of  the  pagan  nobles.^  His  monu- 
ment and  that  of  his  wife  show  the  extent  to  which  a  really 
religious  pagan  of  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  might 
turn  to  every  other  phase  of  the  religious  faiths  in  the 
syncretistic  Roman  world,  while  avoiding  Christianity. 
Praetextatus  was  augur,  priest  of  Vesta,  priest  of  the 
Sun,  curial  of  Hercules,  consecrated  to  Liber  and  the 
Eleusinian  deities,  neocorus,  hierophant,  pater  sacrornm 
and  pater  patrum,  cleansed  by  the  rite  of  the  taurobolium 
in  the  mysteries  of  Mithra.  His  wife,  Fabia  Aconia  Paul- 
ina, had  been  through  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  and  the 
taurobolium.  She  was  a  devotee  to  Bacchus,  Ceres,  Cora, 
and  Liber,  hierophantria  and  goddess  of  Hecate,  and  a 
priestess  of  Isis.*  Praetextatus  rose  to  power  under  the 
pagan  emperor  Julian,^  at  whose  death  he  went  into  a  fif- 
teen years'  political  retirement.  Theodosius  in  pursuing 
his  policy  of  conciliating  the  pagan  party  drew  him  again 

1  Symmaclnis,  Relation,  3. 

2  Symmachus,  El>p.,  i,  44-55. 

'  Jerome,  To  Pammachius  against  John  of  Jerusalem,  8.  "Misera- 
bilis  Praetextatus,  homo  sacrilegus  et  idolorum  cultor " ;  C.  I.  L.,  vi, 
1779.  2145- 

*  C.  I.  L.,  vi,  1780. 

*  Amm.  Marc,  op.  cit.,  xxii,  7,  6 ;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  iv,  3 :  Seeck,  op.  cit., 
Ixxxviii. 


34 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


into  active  service  as  praetorian  prefect  and  he  was  consul 
elect  when  he  died  in  385. 

A  second  of  Symmachus'  correspondents  was  his  cousin 
Virius  Nicomachus  Flavianus  (334-395) — of  the  Anician 
family  and  an  earnest  pagan/  He  also  came  to  political 
power  under  Julian  ^  and  as  vicar  of  Africa  under  Gratian 
seems  to  have  incurred  a  rebuke  from  the  emperor  for  his 
leniency  towards  the  heretics/  In  391  he  was  prefect  of 
Italy  under  Theodosius.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
revolt  of  Eugenius  and  Abrogastes  and  obtained  for  the 
pagans  the  restoration  of  the  Altar  of  Victory  and  the  en- 
dowments for  the  sacred  colleges.*  He  ended  his  life  at 
Frigidus. 

In  addition  to  these  pagan  correspondents — to  whom 
must  be  added  Richomer,  the  Prankish  barbarian,  who  re- 
ceived fifteen  letters  * — Symmachus  addressed  a  series  of 
fourteen  letters  "  to  Stilicho  whose  religious  policy  of  toler- 
ation we  have  already  discussed.  At  the  same  time  there 
were  Christian  correspondents,  of  whom  the  most  eminent 
was  Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan,  his  bitterest  political  and 
religious  opponent,  and  yet  a  relative  and  friend.   A  letter  '' 

1  Seeck,  op.  ext.,  cii ;  Epp.,  ii,  1-91. 
'  Amm.  Marc,  op.  cit.,  xxxiii,  1-4. 

»  Aug.,  Ep.,  87,  8;  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  6,  2;  5,  4;  C.  I.  L.,  vi,  1782,  1783. 
Augustine  classes  Flavianus  as  a  Donatist;  the  inscriptions  show  that 
he  was  vicar  of  Africa  at  this  period;  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  4,  speaks 
of  the  "  dissimulatione  judicum  " ;  while  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  6,  2,  which 
in  some  manuscripts  is  addressed  to  Flavianus,  repeats  the  commands 
to  enforce  previous  laws  against  rebaptizing.  Cf.  Seeck,  op.  cit.,  cxv. 

*  Paul,  Vita  Ambrosii,  26;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  vii,  22;  Aug.,  City  of  God, 
18,  23;  Ambrose,  Ep.,  57,  6. 

Symmachus,  £/'/'.,  iii,  54-69;  Libanus,  Z?^  Fi/a  S'mo  (Leipsic,  1903-8), 
i,  p.  136;  Epp.,  785,  926. 

•  Symmachus,  Epp.,  iv,  1-14. 

■'Aug.,  Confessions,  ed.  Gibb  and  Montgomery  (Cambridge,  1908), 
V,  13. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95 


35 


from  Symmachus  to  Ambrose  secured  for  Augustine  his 
appointment  as  professor  of  rhetoric  at  Milan.  Seven 
letters  ^  are  addressed  to  Ambrose.  In  addition  there  is 
one  to  Bishop  Clemens,  and  another  to  Bishop  Severus.^ 
Three  letters  ^  are  to  a  Jovius,  possibly  the  one  who  over- 
threw temples  in  Africa  in  Augustine's  day.*  Ten  are  to 
Attains,  Alaric's  puppet  emperor — baptized  as  an  Arian  to 
please  that  barbarian  chieftain.'  One  of  his  correspond- 
ents, Caecilianus,*  was  also  a  friend  of  Augustine.  Pe- 
tronius  Probus,'  of  the  Anician  house,  whose  wife  and 
sons  were  devoted  ^  Christians,  received  five  of  the  letters. 
Probus  was  baptized  on  his  death-bed  in  395."  Thirty 
letters  ^°  are  to  Ausonius,  ten  to  Rufinus,^^  and  four  to  At- 
ticus,^^  praetorian  prefect  of  Italy  and  consul  in  397,  and  a 
faithful  Christian. 

What  better  evidence  could  we  possess  of  the  toleration 
of  the  times  than  this  correspondence  of  Symmachus?  He 
exchanged  friendly  letters  with  men  of  all  shades  of  re- 
ligious opinions.  Nor  is  he  an  exception.  We  see  the 
same  thing  in  the  letters  of  Augustine,  and  doubtless,  were 
the  correspondence  of  other  Romans  of  that  period  extant, 
we  should  find  a  similar  state  of  affairs. 

1  Symmachus,  Epp.,  iii,  30-37 ;  Ambrose,  Ep.,  57,  2. 
'  Symmachus,  Epp.,  vii,  51 ;  iii,  i  and  64. 

*  Ibid.,  viii,  30 ;  ix,  50. 

*  Aug.,  City  of  God,  xviii,  54. 

'  Seeck,  Sym.,  clxx ;  Amm.  Marc,  op.  cit.,  28,  4,  3 ;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  9. 
«  Aug.,  Ep.,  151,  14. 

'  Symmachus,  Epp.,  i,  56-61 ;  Seeck,  Sym.,  xci ;  C.  I.  L.,  vi,  1752, 
1753.  1756. 

'  Prud.,  Cons.  Sym.,  i,  551 ;  Jerome,  Ep.,  130,  3. 
»  C.  I.  L.,  1756. 

Symmachus,  Epp.,  i,  13-43. 
^'^  Ibid.,  iii,  81-91.  '^'^  Ibid.,  vii,  30-34. 


36 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Symmachus  furnishes  us  some  slight  material  for  the 
siDcculation,  which  has  interested  modern  historians,  as  to 
when  the  majority  of  the  Roman  Senate  ceased  to  be 
pagan.  When  Gratian,  in  382,  ordered  the  removal  of  the 
Altar  of  Victory  from  the  Senate  Chamber — a  notable  act 
of  sacrilege  according  to  our  pagan  sources — Symmachus 
headed  the  pagan  deputation  which  was  sent  to  protest  to 
the  emperor.  He  tells  us  that  it  was  in  the  name  of  the  Sen- 
ate that  this  appeal  for  the  restoration  of  the  statue  was 
made.'  Yet,  Ambrose,  the  opponent  of  Symmachus, 
claims  a  Christian  majority  in  the  Senate.^  The  situation 
is  made  still  more  uncertain  by  the  fact  that  after  Sym- 
machus' departure  for  Milan,  the  same  senators  sent  a 
protest  to  Damasus,  bishop  of  Rome,  who  brought  it  about 
that  Symmachus  was  not  received  by  the  emperor.  Surely 
this  vacillating  policy  must  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  Senate  was  pretty  evenly  divided.  Ambrose  ^  and  Pru- 
dentius  could  claim  that  it  was  Christian,  while  at  the 
same  time  Symmachus  ^  and,  later,  Zosimus "  could  de- 
scribe it  as  pagan. 

Some  modern  historians  feel  that  it  is  possible  definitely 
to  determine  majorities  at  this  period.  Among  these, 
Victor  Schultze,  basing  his  estimates  on  the  number  of 
bishops  present  at  church  councils  concludes  that  by  the 
year  382  the  pagans  were  in  the  majority  in  the  Roman 
Senate.'    On  the  other  hand,  G.  Rauschen  follows  Am- 

'  Symmachus,  Ep.,  x,  3. 

*  Ambrose,  Ep.,  17,  9  and  10. 
'  Ambrose,  Ep.,  17,  9  and  10. 

*  Prud.,  Contra  Sym.,  i,  566. 

•  Symmachus,  Ep.,  x,  3. 

•  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  iv,  59. 

'  Victor  Schultze,  Geschichte  des  Untergangs  der  gviechisch-rdmischcn 
Heidentums  (Jena,  1887-92),  i,  225. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95 


37 


brose  in  claiming  a  Christian  majority/  Both  these  esti- 
mates are  misleading.  The  senate  included  many  indif¥er- 
ents  and  irresolutes,  and  it  probably  took  not  a  little  politi- 
cal management  for  either  party  to  carry  out  its  measures. 

Augustine  gives  us  an  interesting  picture  of  the  extreme 
diplomacy  the  Christian  must  exercise  in  trying  to  win  the 
Senate  to  his  policy.  Writing  to  a  Christian  senator  urg- 
ing him  to  work  for  the  extension  of  Christianity  in 
Africa,  he  speaks  not  only  of  "  many  like  yourself,  who 
are  senators  in  the  state  and  sons  of  the  holy  church,"  but 
also  of  many  others  who  are  so  weak  that  "  it  is  hazardous 
to  give  them  this  exhortation ;  they  may  refuse  to  follow 
it  and  the  enemies  of  the  Church  will  take  advantage  of  it 
to  deceive  the  weak.  But  it  is  safe  for  me  to  express  gra- 
titude to  you — and  ask  you  to  read  this  letter  with  friendly 
boldness  to  any  to  whom  you  can  do  so  on  the  grounds  of 
their  Christian  profession."  ^ 

An  opponent  of  Symmachus  was  Aurelius  Prudentius 
Clemens  (348-410),  the  first  distinctly  Christian  Latin 
poet.  Born  in  Spain,^  he  received  a  pagan  education.* 
He  became  governor  of  a  province  and  gained  the  highest 
court  rank;  but  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven  he  resolved  to  de- 
vote the  remainder  of  his  life  to  writing  about  Christian- 
ity.''"'    The  most  important  of  his  works  is  his  contra  Syin- 

■  Rauschen,  op.  cit.,  iig.  Gaston  Boissier,  op.  cit.,  ii,  267  says: 
"  Rcme  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  century  passed  as  having  a  pagan 
majority.  The  Christians  protested  against  th's  opinion,  but  it  was 
nevertheless  strongly  believed."  Samuel  Dill,  op.  cit.,  p.  36,  speaks  of 
the  Roman  Senate  as  being  "  still  pagan  to  the  core  "  ;  and  p.  4,  ".A.t 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century  the  majority  of  the  Senate  were  little 
touched  by  the  Christian  faith,  although  the  wives  and  daughters  of 
some  of  them  had  adopted  the  most  ascetic  practices." 

'Aug.,  £/>.,  s8  (401  A.  D.). 

*  Prud.,  Peristephanon,  vi,  146. 

*  Prud.,  Contra  Sym.,  i,  197-214-  ^  Prud.,  Praef. 


38 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


machum,  written  probably  in  the  year  403,  and  perhaps 
called  forth  by  the  restoration  of  the  Altar  of  Victory  to 
the  Senate  chamber.  This  poem  is  in  two  books,  the  first 
against  the  pagan  religion  in  general,  the  second  against 
Symmachus  in  particular.  Its  tone  is  tolerant.  With  him 
the  church  is  not  hostile  to  the  state  and  he  always  speaks 
in  a  kindly  way  of  Symmachus.  He  realizes  that  pagan- 
ism is  not  yet  dead;  against  it  he  would  use  legal  means 
but  not  violence.^  He  cites  with  evident  approval  the  de- 
cree of  Theodosius  that  works  of  art,  even  idols,^  are  to 
be  preserved;  he  congratulates  the  emperors  on  admitting 
to  public  honors  men  of  all  cults.^  He  has  no  unkindly 
feeling  even  toward  the  pagan  emperor  Julian ;  *  yet  for 
him  Rome's  destiny  was  to  unify  mankind  that  it  might 
become  one  in  Christ.  In  all  his  poems  there  is  but  one 
reference  to  Arianism,  which  would  indicate  that  that 
heresy  was  not  yet  prominent  in  the  West.^  He  sum- 
marizes his  mission  in  the  introduction  to  his  works  as 
follows:  "  "  If  I  might  not  honor  God  by  actions,  I  would 
at  least  celebrate  him  in  my  verse ;  with  my  hymns  I  would 
sanctify  the  hours  of  the  day  and  the  night  should  not  be 
less  consecrated  to  glorifying  the  Saviour;  I  would  fight 
against  heresy,  defend  the  Catholic  faith,  destroy  the 
pagan  altars;  I  would  hurl  an  invective,  O  Rome,  at  your 
idols,  consecrate  a  poem  to  the  martyrs  and  sing  the  glory 
of  the  apostles." 

We  return  to  a  pagan  source  again  in  the  compilation 
from  the  lost  works  of  Eunapius  and  Olympiodorus,  the 
History  of  Rome  by  Count  Zosimus  (c.  450-501  ?).  Of 
Zosimus  we  know  little  else  than  that  he  was  a  count  and 

*  Prudentius,  Contra  Sym.,  i,  19-25. 

»  Ibid.,  i,  503-506.  '  Ibid.,  i,  19-24. 
■*  Prud.,  A silicosis,  450-463- 

Prud.,  Psychomachia,  794.  "  Prud.,  Praef.,  i. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395  -^g 

advocate  who  lived  in  the  East  in  the  last  half  of  the  fifth 
century/  His  historic  credibility  for  the  period  of  which 
we  treat  is  not  great,  as  he  was  not  a  contemporary  nor  an 
intelligent  compiler ;  he  has  a  most  decided  pagan  and  anti- 
German  bias;  and  he  is  interested  primarily  in  Eastern 
affairs.  His  uncompleted  work  in  six  books  comes  down 
to  the  year  410.  His  attitude  he  expresses  thus:  "  If  the 
sacred  ceremonies  had  been  religiously  observed  as  the 
oracle  had  ordered,  the  Roman  empire  would  have  con- 
served its  power  over  all  the  world  known  to  us.  But 
because  they  have  been  neglected  since  Diocletian  abdi- 
cated his  sovereign  authority,  it  has  diminished  little  by 
little  and  has  fallen  under  the  domination  of  the  barbar- 
ians, as  it  is  easy  for  me  to  prove  by  the  order  of  events."  ^ 
He  was  a  firm  believer  in  divinations,  oracles  and  the 
Sybilline  books.  It  was  Minerva  and  Achilles  who  pre- 
served Athens  from  Alaric  in  395.  That  a  pagan  in  the 
Eastern  part  of  the  empire  could  publish  such  a  book  in  the 
reign  of  Theodosius  II  or  later  is  evidence  that  at  least 
there  paganism  was  still  of  importance. 

Over  against  these  narrative  and  incidental  sources, 
at  best  but  doubtful  guides,  we  have,  fortunately,  a  col- 
lection of  documents  which  must  always  serve  the  his- 
torian of  this  period  as  a  touchstone  for  the  rest — the 
Roman  law.  The  Theodosian  code  is  a  collection  of 
contemporary  documents  of  the  first  importance,  and 
of  final  authority  wherever  it  can  be  applied  and  its 
scope  and  application  determined.  We  have  the  state- 
ment in  a  constitution  of  Theodosius  II  itself  of  how  the 
idea  of  a  compilation  grew  up  in  his  mind.^    He  felt 

1  Photius,  Codex  98. 
2Z0S.,  op.  cit.,  ii,  7. 

*  Const,  de  Theod.  Cod.  Auctoritate,  i,  i,  S  (429)-  Cf.  Mommsen 
and  Marquardt,  Manuel  des  Antiquites  Romaines,  vol.  xvi;  Krueger, 


40 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


that  it  was  necessary  to  facilitate  their  task  of  his  juris- 
consults by  an  ofificial  compilation  of  the  laws,  whereby  the 
sources  of  the  law  would  be  rendered  more  accessible.  So 
he  appointed  a  commission  to  classify  by  order  of  subject- 
matter,  and  to  unite  in  a  code,  on  the  model  of  the  Codices 
Gregorianus  and  Hermogenianus,  the  edicts  and  other  gen- 
eral laws  from  the  time  of  Constantine ;  not  omitting  those 
abrogated,  since  the  date  and  chronological  order  would 
permit  one  to  distinguish  which  were  still  in  force.  The 
constitutions  were  to  be  broken  up  into  chapters  and  placed 
under  different  titles,  if  the  subject-matter  demanded  it. 
The  text  should  be  exactly  reproduced,  leaving  out,  how- 
ever, directions  for  publication,  prefaces  or  expressions  of 
motives.  At  the  same  time  the  Emperor  proposed  a  more 
practical  code  which  should  contain  only  those  constitu- 
tions still  in  force,  together  with  some  opinions  of  th-.' 
jurisconsults.  This  first  commission  did  not  fulfil  its  task, 
however,  and  in  435  a  new  commission  with  instructions 
of  a  somewhat  different  nature  was  appointed.^  It  aban- 
doned the  second  part  of  the  project  and  held  only  to  the 
collection  of  constitutions.  This  commission  was  author- 
ized to  abridge  the  laws  inserted,  to  make  additions,  if  in 
their  opinion  it  should  seem  necessary,  to  modify  a  text 
if  it  contained  ambiguous  expressions  or  if  the  change 
would  afford  a  happier  expression.  Also  it  was  formally 
declared  necessary  to  include  in  this  code  the  laws  appli- 
cable only  in  certain  provinces  or  cities,  a  fact  which  in- 
finitely increases  the  difficulty  of  using  them  as  historical 
sources.  The  work  of  this  committee  was  published  on  the 
fifteenth  of  February,  438,  and  went  into  effect  on  the  first 

Histoire  des  Sources  du  Droit  Remain,  pp.  381  et  seq.  (Paris,  1907)- 
C/.  Gothofredus,  Prolegomena  Codicis  Theodostani,  p.  189,  de  usu  et 
auctoritate  codicis  Theodosiani. 
>  Cod.  Theod.,  i,  i,  6. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95 


41 


of  January,  439.^  With  some  exceptions  all  constitutions 
issued  since  Constantine  the  Great  were  to  be  abrogated  if 
not  in  the  code.  And  although  the  committee  was  in- 
structed to  insert  all  general  laws  and  was  not  authorized 
to  lay  aside  any,  we  know  that  some  were  left  out,  either 
through  negligence  or  owing  to  the  insufficiency  of  ma- 
terials at  hand.  Some  of  the  constitutions  given  are  of 
almost  no  significance;  some  are  purely  transitory;  some- 
times extensive  use  is  made  of  the  authority  to  abridge  or 
modify  the  text.  Errors  in  dividing  constitutions  at  times 
are  such  that  we  can  not  be  sure  of  texts  appearing  under 
appropriate  titles.  Occasionally  the  same  constitution  oc- 
curs under  several  titles.  Texts  were  not  always  correctly 
modified.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the  composition  of  the 
code  proper. 

To  the  code  must  be  added  the  Novcllae  or  laws  of 
later  dates.  The  decree  of  publication  of  the  code  de- 
cided, however,  that  new  laws  promulgated  by  any  prince 
were  to  be  applicable  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Empire  only 
after  they  had  been  ratified  by  the  prince  of  that  section.' 
The  last  of  the  sixteen  books  into  which  the  code  is  divided 
deals  with  religious  matters.  The  earlier  books  treat  of 
private  law,  administration  of  the  state,  criminal  law,  fiscal 
law,  organization  and  administration  of  local  government. 

The  ecclesiastical  corporation  (state  church)  was  in  a 
sense  created  by  imperial  constitution,  and  remained  in 
law  and  in  fact  under  the  power  of  the  monarch.  From 
the  legal  point  of  view  the  church  was  dependent  on  the 
state;  even  the  decisions  of  the  councils  in  matters  of  faith 
were  simply  advice  which  the  government  received  through 

'  Nov.  Tlicod.,  i. 

»  Cod.  Theod.,  i,  i,  S,  5- 


42 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  medium  of  competent  men  and  this  advice  was  of 
juridic  value  only  by  virtue  of  imperial  sanction.* 

What  is  the  attitude  of  the  Theodosian  Code  toward 
heretics  and  pagans?  This  is  a  question  which  we  cannot 
answer  in  full,  as  it  carries  us  back  over  the  whole  history 
of  the  fourth  century  and  farther  into  the  fifth  than  this 
study  goes.  But  in  general  we  may  summarize  the  posi- 
tion in  395  as  follows.  In  the  days  when  paganism  was 
the  religion  of  the  state  a  religious  offence  became  a  crime 
against  the  state,  majcstas.  So  when  Christianity  became 
the  state  religion  the  charge  of  treason  (majestas)  still 
might  be  raised  against  pagans  or  heretics  for  acts  of  sedi- 
tion "  or  the  offering  of  bloody  sacrifices  or  consulting  the 
steaming  entrails.^ 

Full  legal  rights  belonged  only  to  the  orthodox,  all 
religious  deviations  entailed  a  diminution  of  civic  re- 
spectability and  frequently  a  restriction  of  liberties.  Leg- 
ally, orthodoxy  (fides  catholica)  was  always  the  faith  of 
the  emperor,  which  under  an  Arian  emperor  such  as  Valens 
would  mean  Arianism.  But  after  Theodosius,  Gratian  and 
Valentinian  in  380  *  had  established  the  Athanasian  belief 
as  the  state  religion,  this  was  not  again  changed.  Yet. 
previous  to  the  period  of  which  we  treat,  the  difference 
between  orthodoxy  and  heresy  was  not  clearly  defined,  as 
is  shown  by  the  case  of  the  Novatians.  A  law  of  326  ^  al- 
lowed this  sect  certain  privileges  which  were  denied  to 
heretics,  and  this  continued  to  be  their  position  even  to 

'  Cod.  Just.,  i,  5,  8,  5,  by  which  Valentinian  III  and  Marcian  estab- 
lished by  law  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon. 
^Ibid.,  xvi,  4,  I  (386). 
•''  Ibid.,  xvi,  10,  12  (392). 
*  Ibid.,  xvi,  I,  2  (380)  ;  xvi,  5,  6  (381). 
^  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  2  (326). 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95  43 

the  year  428/  Although  there  was  a  general  notion  of 
heresy  as  any  deviation  from  orthodoxy,^  nevertheless  at 
the  death  of  Theodosius  there  was  as  yet  no  legal  definition 
of  a  heretic. 

Punishment  for  heterodoxy  was  at  first  chiefly  the  loss 
of  certain  special  privileges  granted  to  the  church:  (a) 
They  were  refused  the  rights  of  reunion  and  association 
and  the  right  freely  to  perform  the  acts  of  their  cult  under 
various  penalties,  as,  segregation,  confiscation  of  property 
and  deportation.  These  rights  had  been  withdrawn  by  the 
year  381  from  all  heretics.^  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  right 
of  congregation  was  in  some  instances  forbidden  only  in 
cities.*  (b)  They  were  not  allowed  to  possess  churches  or 
burial  places.  The  rule  was  for  the  state  to  confiscate  such 
places.^  (c)  Neither  their  association  nor  the  authority 
of  their  leaders  was  to  be  recognized."  This  principle  was 
well  established  by  the  year  379.  (d)  By  381  those  guilty 
of  heresy  were  deprived  of  the  right  of  transmitting  or 
receiving  property  by  intestate  succession  or  by  will,  legacy 
or  donation,  under  penalty  of  confiscation.'  (e)  Choice 
of  a  place  of  residence  was  restricted.^  They  could  not  live 
in  the  larger  cities. 

At  the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  the  orthodox  were 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  65  (428).  Justinian's  redaction  of  this  la.v 
places  them  squarely  with  other  heretics  {Cod.  Just.,  i,  5,  s). 

^Ibid.,  xvi,  s,  5  (379). 

3  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  6.  By  the  year  410  a  death  penalty  was  attached ;  ibid., 
xvi,  5,  51. 

*  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  65. 

5  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  4  (376) .    We  shall  see  these  confiscated  to  the  church 
in  408  {ibid.,  xvi,  5,  43;  cf.  infra,  p.  134). 
« Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  5  (379)- 
'  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  7  (381). 

*  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  7  and  12. 


44 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


coming  to  treat  the  heterodox  as  non-Christian,  and  con- 
fused them  with  the  pagans  or  gentiles.  This  occurs  as 
early  as  380,^  although  the  distinction  at  law  between  the 
pagans  and  heretics  ^  had  not  yet  disappeared.'  The 
legal  status  of  the  two  classes  was  similar  but  not 
identical;  the  penalties  in  force  against  pagans  were  dif- 
ferent from  those  imposed  upon  heretics:  (a)  The 
pagans  had  lost  their  freedom  of  belief.  This  may  have 
been  begun  under  Constantine  himself,*  though  the  evi- 
dence for  this  supposition  is  very  slight,  consisting  only  of 
a  reference,  contained  in  a  law  of  Constantine's  sons,  to 
an  earlier  similar  act  on  the  part  of  Constantine  himself. 
Inasmuch  as  Eusebius  does  not  mention  this  edict  of  Con- 
stantine, the  probability  is  that  it  was  never  issued.  The 
sons  forbade  blood  sacrifices  and  in  a  general  manner  the 
worship  of  images.'^  They  also  closed  the  temples."  By 
395  not  only  had  orthodoxy  become  the  recognized  religion 
of  the  state,  but  in  a  general  manner,  all  acts  of  the  pagan 
cult  had  been  forbidden,'^  though  popular  fetes  were  still 
maintained.*    (b)  The  property  was  confiscated,  both  of 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  i,  2.  ^  Ihid.,  xvi,  5,  46  (409). 

'  In  tlie  Theodosian  code  a  special  title  is  devoted  to  the  pagans,  but 
in  the  Xov.  Theod.,  ii.  3,  we  find  them  under  the  classification  of 
"Jews,  Samaritans,  pagans  and  other  kinds  of  hereJcs." 

*  Ccd.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  2.    Euseb.,  Vita  C,  2,  44,  45. 

■'Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  2  (346);  ibid.,  xvi,  10,  6  (356),  "  vel  colere 
simulacra." 

*  Ibid.,  xvi,  10,  4  (346)  ;  in  tliis  law  maintenance  of  sacrifices  in 
the  temple  is  made  punishable  with  death.  In  385,  ib'd.,  xvi,  10,  9,  the 
death  penalty  was  added  for  taking  auspices  from  the  entrails  of  vic- 
tims. In  392,  ibid.,  xvi,  10,  12,  sacrifice  and  the  taking  of  auspices  from 
the  entrails  was  made  equivalent  to  the  crime  of  majestas. 

'  Ibid.,  xvi,  10,  12  (392).    In  451  a  death  penalty  is  attached  to  all 
interdicted  acts  of  the  cult.    Cod.  lust.,  i,  11,  10,  3. 
»  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  17  (399)- 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


45 


the  temples/  and  of  such  private  individuals  as  authorized 
the  acts  of  the  cult  or  their  domains."  (c)  The  loss  of  the 
right  of  testation  ^  and  the  incurring  of  infamy  *  had  been 
decreed  against  Christians  who  turned  pagan.  Loss  of 
functions  legally  followed  from  infamy.  However,  by  a 
law  of  the  year  408  all  enemies  of  the  Christians  '  were 
to  lose  their  public  functions. 

Ill 

Such  is,  in  general,  the  character  of  the  sources  of  our 
information  concerning  the  political  and  religious  situation 
when  Stilicho  in  the  West  and  Rufinus  in  the  East  became 
responsible  for  the  policy  of  the  Empire.  For,  although 
the  piety  of  both  emperors  would  impose  no  obstacle  to 
an  increase  in  the  power  of  the  orthodox  religion,  it  was 
doubtless  the  ministers  rather  than  the  emperors  them- 
selves who  directed  the  legislation  in  this  as  in  other  ques- 
tions. We  must  therefore  look  to  the  respective  attitudes 
of  Stilicho  and  Rufinus  for  any  explanation  of  the  de- 
velopment of  this  religious  situation. 

As  we  have  shown  in  our  treatment  of  Claudian,  Stili- 
cho's  panegyrist,  Stilicho  followed  a  middle  course  in  re- 
ligious matters ;  it  is  not  possible  to  assign  him  to  any  re- 
ligious faction.  Herein  he  had  accepted  the  advice  and 
followed  the  example  of  Theodosius.  Such  a  policy 
worked  well  in  peaceful  times,  but  when  the  barbarian 

•  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  12  (392). 

'  Ibid.,  xvi,  10,  12,  2  (392).  Later  the  priesthood  is  suppressed 
ibid.,  xvi,  10,  14  (396). 

^  Ibid.,  xvi,  7,  I  (381).  In  Justinian's  time  these  penalties  were 
ordered  applied  to  all  pagans  {Cod.  lust.,  i,  11,  10,  i).  Also  all  pagans 
were  to  be  banished  (Cod.  fust.,  i,  11,  10,  3). 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  7,  5  (391)- 

'  Stilicho's  fall  was  followed  by  a  general  law  of  this  nature.  Cf. 
infra,  p.  133;  ibid.,  xvi,  5,  42. 


46 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


threatened  destruction  to  the  Empire,  it  failed :  StiHcho 
was  overthrown  by  the  orthodox  and  was  heartily  con- 
demned by  both  parties.  As  a  result,  the  historical  writers 
were  not  fair  to  him ;  and  were  it  not  for  the  edicts  which 
have  come  down  to  us,  we  should  be  quite  at  a  loss  how  to 
estimate  his  tolerant  policy. 

The  pagan,  Zosimus,^  blames  him  for  taking  the  gold 
from  the  doors  of  the  capitol,^  and  accuses  his  wife  Serena 
of  taking  the  gold  necklace  from  the  statue  of  Magna 
Mater  to  place  around  her  own  throat.  And  Rutilius 
Namatianus,^  another  pagan,  condemns  him  for  burning 
the  Sibylline  books  and  accuses  him  of  letting  the  barbar- 
ians loose  on  the  empire.*  On  the  Christian  side,  Orosius  * 
blames  him  for  placing  in  office  a  barbarian  pagan,  Saul, 
who  offended  the  Christian  God  by  forcing  the  barbarians 
to  fight  the  battle  of  Pollentia  on  Sunday,  and  what  is 
more  serious,^  charges  him  with  wishing  to  make  his 
heathen  son,  Eucharius,  Emperor.  Paulinus  of  Nola 
says  that  he  violated  the  right  of  asylum  of  the  church. 
Augustine  does  credit  him  with  some  service  to  the  world 
when  he  says  that  Stilicho  sent  out  to  Africa  laws  for 
breaking  the  idols  and  correcting  the  heretics,^  but  Jerome  ® 
lays  on  his  shoulders  all  the  troubles  of  the  empire.  These, 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  38. 
'  Ibid.,  V,  38. 

'  Rutilius  Namatianus  De  Reditu  suo  (London,  1907),  ii,  41,  46,  52. 

*  Ibid.,  ii,  46. 

*  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  37,  2. 

*  Ibid.,  vii,  38,  I  and  6. 

'  Paulinus  of  Nola,  i,  34. 
»  Aug.,  Ep.,  97. 

*  Jerome,  Ep.,  123,  17.  There  is  absolutely  no  justification  for 
Baronius,  Annales  Ecclesiasticae,  Ed.  Mansi  (Lucca,  1738-46),  395,  i, 
calling  Stilicho  "  Idolorum  cultus  implacabilem  adversarium."  Title- 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


47 


however,  are  descriptions  drawn  after  the  close  of  Stili- 
cho's  career  and  are  those  of  writers  disappointed  with  the 
outcome.    Neither  party  had  been  satisfied. 

Stilicho's  policy  through  his  period  of  power  was  to  pro- 
tect the  rights  of  both  parties.  He  respected  and  confirmed 
the  rights  of  the  church/  though  he  did  not  extend  them; 
he  tried  rather  to  restrict  them  where  he  saw  that  they  in- 
terfered with  powers  properly  belonging  to  the  secular 
government.^  Pagan  temples  were  protected  as  works  of 
art  and  the  pagan  games  were  continued ;  *  the  pagans  were 
molested  only  when  they  caused  trouble.  In  Stilicho's  con- 
sulate it  is  even  possible  *  that  the  pagan  Altar  of  Victory 
was  restored  to  the  Senate  Chamber  in  Rome,  though  the 
evidence  for  this  is  of  slight  value.  The  earliest  acts  of 
Stilicho  show  that  he  realized  that  the  religious  parties  had 
a  working  basis  which  he  attempted  to  preserve.  He  first 
assured  the  Christians  that  they  were  to  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges already  gained.  The  imperial  edict  of  the  twenty- 
third  of  March,  395,  reads:  ^  "  We  command  that  the  dif- 

mont,  Hist.  Ecc.  (Brussels,  1707),  follows  this  and  adds  the  somewhat 
astonishing  proof  (v.  484)  that  had  he  not  been  a  Christian,  Theo- 
dosius  would  not  have  given  him  Serena  as  a  wife. 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  2,  29;  xvi,  2,  30. 

^  Ibid.,  xvi,  II,  I. 

^  Ibid.,  xvi,  10,  15;  cf.  infra,  p.  loi :  xvi,  10,  17  and  18. 

*  Birt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  57-8.  Introd.  infers  that  Victory  was  restored  Jan- 
uary, 400,  from  these  lines,  De  Cons.  Stilic,  III,  preface,  19,  "Advexit 
reduces  secum  Victoria  Musas."  The  poem  of  Prudentius,  Contra 
Symmachum,  was  perhaps  inspired  by  this  restoration.  Its  purpose 
was  to  show  that  Rome's  greatness  was  not  due  to  the  ancient  Gods. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  2,  29;  de  Episcopis,  Ecclesiis  et  Clericis.  (395 
Mart,  23)  Impp.  Arcad(ius)  et  Honor  (ius)  A  A.  Hierio  Vicario 
Africae.  "  Quaecumque  a  parentibus  nostris  diversis  sunt  statuta  tem- 
poribus,  manere  inviolata  adque  incorrupta  circa  sacrosanctas  ecclesias 
praecipimus.    Nihil  igitur  a  privileges  immutetur  omnibusque,  qui 


48 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


ferent  imperial  decrees  of  our  predecessors  regarding 
holy  church  shall  remain  inviolate  and  unchanged.  Let 
none  of  the  privileges  be  altered,  and  to  all  who  serve  the 
church  let  protection  be  afforded ;  for  we  desire  in  our  time 
rather  to  increase  reverence  than  to  change  that  which  has 
been  maintained  from  of  old."  This  adds  no  new  privi- 
leges and  we  should  notice  that  it  is  directed  to  the  vicar 
of  Africa.  Africa,  as  we  shall  see  later,  was  a  hot-bed  of 
religious  strife  and  this  was  in  the  nature  of  political  meas- 
ure for  the  preservation  of  order.  He  adopted  the  same 
policy  towards  the  pagans.  On  January  the  thirty-first, 
397,  he  enacted  a  similar  law,  adding  therein  that  privileges 
enjoyed  by  the  church  were  to  apply  to  those  who  belonged 
to  it.^  Three  imperial  ordinances  dealing  with  the  pagans 
of  the  late  revolt  of  Eugenius  and  Abrogastes  were  issued 
soon  after  he  assumed  power.  Ambrose  ^  tells  us  that 
Theodosius'  last  request  of  Stilicho  was  that  he  grant  in- 
dulgence to  the  late  rebels  and  one  of  the  edicts  preserved 
in  the  code  *  affirms  that  the  laws  issued  were  in  accord- 
ance with  such  a  request.    The  one  of  the  twenty-first  of 

ecclesiis  serviunt,  tuitio  deferatur,  quia  temporibus  nostris  addi  po- 
tiiis  reverentiae  cupimus  quam  ex  his  quae  olim  praestita  sunt  imtnu- 
tari.  Sozomen,  op.  cit.,  viii,  i,  confirms  this :  "Atque  idcirco  ea  quae 
pro  ecclesiarum  utilitate  a  superioribus  principibus  decreta  fuerant, 
propensiore  animo  confirmarunt  et  propria  ipsi  dona  adjecerunt." 

'  Cod.  Thcod.,  xvi,  2,  30.  "  Non  novum  aliquid  praesenti  sanctione 
praecip'mus,  quam  ilia,  quae  olim  videntur  indulta,  firmamus.  Privi- 
legia  igitur,  quae  olim  reverentia  religionis  obtinuit,  mutilari  sub 
poenae  etiam  interminatione  prohibemus,  ita  ut  hi  quoque,  qui  ecclesiae 
oblemperant,  his,  quibus  ecclesia,  beneficiis  perfruantur." 

'  Ambrose,  De  Obitu  Theodosii,  5.  "  Praecepit  dari  legem  indul- 
gentiac  quam  scriptam  reliquit." 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xv,  14,  11.  "Fas  est  sequi  nos  paternae  dispositionis 
arbitrium." 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95 


49 


April  ^  validates  acts  of  a  private  nature  passed  during 
the  time  of  the  late  tyrants.  One  of  the  twenty-sixth  of 
the  same  month  ^  also  deals  with  private  rights.  One  of 
the  eighteenth  of  May  *  grants  pardons  to  the  rebels  and 
restores  the  dignities  previously  held.  Finally,*  on  the 
seventeenth  of  June  all  legal  infamy  was  removed.  The 
pagan  party  was  still  strong  and  Stilicho's  actions  won  the 
support  of  its  leaders,  the  chief  of  whom  was  Symmachus.^ 
The  religious  attitude  of  Rufinus  compares  unfavorably 
with  the  toleration  of  Stilicho.  His  religious  faith  and 
zeal  won  for  him  the  friendship  of  Ambrose."  At  his 
death  he  was  buried  in  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  Peter 

*  Ibid.,  XV,  14,  9.  "  Valeat  omnis  emancipatio  tyrannicis  facta  tem- 
poribus ;  valeat  a  dominis  concessa  libertas ;  valeat  celebrata  et  actis 
quibus  libet  inserta  donatio;"  etc. 

"  Ibid.,  XV,  14,  10.  "  Qui  tyranni  Maximi  secuti  .  .  .  eorum  amissione 
plectantur  adque  ad  rem  privatam  denuo  revertantur." 

^  Ibid.,  XV,  14,  II.  "  Fas  est  sequi  nos  paternae  dispositionis  arbitrium 
adque  ideo  universes  cuiuslibet  ordinis  viros,  de  quibus  lex  nostra 
reticuerat,  ad  veniam  volumus  pertinere  et  beneficia  inopinantibus 
ultro  deferimus,  sancienles  hac  lege,  ne  is,  qui  tyranni  tempore  mili- 
tavit  vel  etiarn  qualibet  administratione  donatus  est  aut  honoraria 
dignitate  perfunctus  vel  quicumque  in  aliquo  honore  diversis  locis  aut 
exactionibus  praefuerant,  notam  infamiae  sustineant,  aut  deformi  vo- 
cabulo  polluantur.  Quibus  eas  tantum  dignitates  valere  decernimus, 
quas  ante  tyrannicum  tempus  habuerunt." 

*  Ibid.,  XV,  14,  12.  "  His,  quos  tyramiici  temporis  labes  specie 
dignitatis  infecerat,  inustae  maculae  omnem  abolemus  infamiam. 
Cuncfis  igitur  statum  priorem  sine  cuiusquam  loci  aut  ordinis  excep- 
tione  tribuimus,  ut  utantur  omnes  jure  communi,  teneant  statum  veteris 
dignitatis,  ita  ut  nihil  sibi  ex  his  quos  adepti  fuerant  honoribus  blandi- 
antur." 

Symmachus,  Ep.,  viii,  7.  Fifteen  of  the  letters  which  Symmachus 
wrote  to  Stilicho  are  preserved.  The  one  cited  is  of  the  year  399 
writing  in  response  to  the  appointment  of  son  Flavian  as  prefect  of 
Rome.  Flavian  had  been  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  revolt  men- 
tioned.   His  family  was  noted  for  its  adherence  to  paganism. 

*  Ambrose.  Ep..  52. 


50 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


and  Paul,  which  he  as  praetorian  prefect  had  built,  three 
miles  from  Chalcedon,  in  a  suburb  called  the  Oak.  Tille- 
mont  has  shown  ^  that  he  had  been  baptized  into  the  ortho- 
dox faith  at  the  dedication  of  this  church  in  394.  That  he 
was  a  friend  of  Symmachus  -  does  not  argue  against  his 
orthodoxy,  for,  as  Tillemont  well  says,  Symmachus  was  the 
friend  of  everybody;^  nor  does  the  fact  that  the  later 
church  historians  condemn  him.*  The  best  evidence  that 
we  could  possibly  have  as  to  his  constant  support  of  the 
orthodox  church  is  found  in  his  numerous  partisan  edicts, 
all  of  which  seem  to  indicate  a  bid  for  the  support  of  tho 
orthodox.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  his  narrow  intol- 
erant acts  accomplished  anything  but  the  alienation  of 
pagans  and  heretics.  That  of  the  thirteenth  of  March  ^  re- 
garding heretics,  especially  Eunomians,  is  very  severe,  for- 

1  Tillemont,  Memoires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire  ecclesiastique  (Paris, 
1713),  ix,  593- 
^  Symmachus,  Epp.,  iii,  81-91. 
•''  Tillemont,  Histoire  des  Emperenrs,  v,  422. 
*  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  i. 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  25.  De  Haereticis.  Impp.  .\rcad(ius)  et 
Honor(ius)  AA.  Rufino  P(raefecto)  P(raetori)o:  "  Omnes  poenas, 
cuncta  supplicia,  quae  sanctionibus  divae  recordationis  genitoris  nostri 
adverstim  haereticorum  sunt  pertinacem  spiritum  constituta,  nostro 
etiam  decreto  reparantes  decernimus,  quidquid  etiam  his  est  contra 
meritum  delinquentum  spe  correctionis  speciali  quadam  sanctione 
concessum,  id  irritum  esse.  Eunomianorum  vero  perfidam  mentem  et 
nequissimam  sectam  speciali  commemoratione  damnamus  statuimusque 
omnia,  quae  contra  illorum  vesaniam  decreta  sunt,  inlibata  custodiri, 
illud  addentes,  ne  quis  memoratae  sectae  militandi  aut  testandi  vel  ex 
testamento  sumendi  habeat  facultatem,  ut  sit  omnibus  commune  dam- 
num, quibus  etiam  communis  est  religionis  furor,  cessante  videlicet, 
si  quid  a  patre  nostro  quibusdam  fuerat  super  testandi  jure  beneficio 
speciali  concessum."  The  term  "  supplicium "  originally  means  the 
death  penalty,  but  in  later  Roman  law  the  term  used  for  that  penalty  is 
generally  "summum  supplicium." 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


51 


bidding  them  the  right  of  serving  in  the  army,  acting  as 
witness  or  inheriting.    It  reads : 

Reviving  all  the  penalties,  all  the  punishments,  which  were 
established  by  the  sanctions  of  our  parent  of  divine  memory 
against  the  pertinacious  spirit  of  the  heretics,  we  declare  by 
this  our  decree  that  any  concession  granted  by  any  special 
sanction  whatever,  contrary  to  the  deserts  of  the  oflfenders,  in 
the  hope  of  reformation,  is  invalid.  We  especially  condemn  the 
perfidious  spirit  and  most  nefarious  doctrine  of  the  Eunomians, 
and  command  that  all  that  has  been  decreed  against  their  folly 
be  strictly  observed ;  adding  this,  that  no  one  of  the  aforesaid 
sect  shall  have  the  right  of  participating  in  the  imperial  service 
or  of  making  or  taking  testament,  so  that  the  same  losses  shall 
be  shared  by  all  who  share  this  religious  folly.  We  hereby 
revoke  any  privileges  that  may  have  been  conceded  by  our 
father  to  anyone,  respecting  the  right  of  testation. 

A  few  days  later  he  prohibited  all  their  assemblies,  and 
forbade  their  assumption  of  ecclesiastical  offices  or  titles 
by  the  law  of  the  thirtieth  of  March. ^  which  reads :  "  Let 
none  of  the  heretics,  whom  already  innumerable  laws  of 
our  divine  father  restrain,  dare  hold  their  illicit  meetings 
and  with  profane  spirit,  either  publicly  or  privately,  openly 
or  in  secret,  contaminate  the  mystery  of  almighty  God. 
Let  none  with  polluted  spirits  dare  assume  the  name  of 
bishop  or  usurp  ecclesiastical  rank  and  its  most  sacred 
titles."    On  the  twenty-fourth  of  June,^  however,  he  re- 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  26.  "  Ne  quis  haereticorum,  quos  jam  leges  innu- 
merae  divi  genitoris  nostri  continent,  audeat  ccetus  inlicitos  congregate 
profanaque  mente  omnipotentis  dei  contaminate  mysterium,  nec  pub- 
lice  nec  privatim,  nec  in  secreto  nec  palam.  Nemo  audeat  episcopi  sibi 
nomen  adsciscere  vel  ecclesiasticum  ordinem  eorumque  sanctissima 
nomina  pollutis  mentibus  usurpare." 

2  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  27.  "  Conficiendorum  testamentorum  dari  Eunomianis 
praecipimus  potestatem  et  concedi  id,  quod  divi  genitoris  nostri  data 
nuper  praeceptio  continebat." 


52 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Stores  the  testamentary  right  which  had  been  conceded  to 
them  by  Theodosius  on  the  twentieth  of  June,  394/  but 
which  had  been  taken  away  on  the  thirteenth  of  March, 
395.'  From  the  fact  that  this  is  a  law  of  toleration  and 
that  it  is  addressed  to  Caesarius,  praetorian  prefect,  who 
only  succeeded  to  that  office  on  the  death  of  Rufinus,  it 
is  possible  that  the  date  is  wrong,  and  that  it  was  not 
issued  before  November  27th. 

A  law  of  September  3rd  gives  our  first  legal  definition  of 
a  heretic,  declaring  that  the  term  shall  include  all  those  who 
even  in  a  minor  matter  deviate  from  the  opinion  and 
path  of  the  Catholic  religion.*  And  the  last  law  of 
Rufinus,*  that  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  was  to 
make  his  position  more  secure  hy  removing  all  heretics 
from  the  provincial  palace  service.  This  shows  fear  of  the 
opposition  which  his  attitude  must  have  aroused.    It  reads : 

We  command  your  sublimity  [Marcellus,  master  of  the  offices] 
to  investigate  whether  heretics  have  dared,  with  affront  to  our 
laws,  to  perform  service  either  in  the  bureaus  (scriniis)  among 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  23. 
^  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  25. 

'  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  28.  "  Aureliano  Proc.  Asiae,  Haereticorum  vocabulo 
continentur  et  latis  adversus  eos  sanctionibus  debent  subcumbere,  qui 
vel  levi  argumento  judicio  catholicae  religionis  et  tramite  detecti 
fuerint  deviare." 

*  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  29.  "  Sublimitatem  tuam  investigare  praecipimus,  an 
aliqui  haereticorum  vel  in  scriniis  vel  inter  agentes  in  rebus  vel  inter 
palatines  cum  legum  nostrarum  injuria  audeant  militare,  quibus  ex- 
emplo  divi  patris  nostri  omnis  et  a  nobis  negata  est  militandi  facultas. 
Quoscumque  autem  deprehenderis  culpae  huius  adfines,  cum  ipsis,  qui- 
bus et  in  legum  nostrarum  et  in  religionum  excidium  coniventiam 
praestiterunt,  non  solum  militia  eximi,  verum  etiam  extra  moenia 
urbis  huiusce  jubebis  arceri."  Honorius  does  the  same  in  408  {ibid., 
xvi,  5,  48).  Military  service  has  been  interdicted  to  Eunomians  in  389, 
lawr  17,  and  to  Montanists  and  Priscillianists  in  395,  lawr  25. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


53 


the  agentes  in  rebus,  or  among  the  palatini.  To  all  of  these  by 
the  example  of  our  divine  father  and  by  ourself  all  right  of 
service  has  been  forbidden.  Moreover,  all  those  who  are 
found  privy  to  this  crime,  together  with  those  who  connive 
with  them  in  the  overthrow  of  our  laws  and  of  religions,  shall 
not  only  be  removed  from  service  but  shall  also  be  kept  outside 
the  walls  of  the  city. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  Novatians  were  still  con- 
sidered only  as  schismatics,  that  Origen  was  not  yet  a 
heretic,  and  that  the  Arians  had  a  church  at  Constantinople 
for  their  worship.  Restrict  the  latitude  of  these  laws  as 
much  as  the  sources  will  permit,  and  we  still  have  the  in- 
tolerant spirit  of  Rufinus'  administration  towards  heretics 
clearly  established. 

The  laws  of  Rufinus  dealing  with  the  pagans  are  of  a 
similar  severity  and  m.ust  have  alienated  the  support  of 
that  party.    A  law  of  the  seventh  of  August,^  against  both 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  lo,  13.  "  Statuimus  nullum  ad  fanum  vel  quod- 
libet  templum  habere  quempiam  licentiam  accedendi  vel  abominanda 
sacrificia  celebrandi  quolibet  loco  vel  tempore.  Igitur  universi,  qui  a 
catholicae  religionis  dogmate  deviare  contendunt,  ea,  quae  nuper  de- 
crevimus,  properent  custodire  et  quae  olim  constituta  sunt  vel  de 
haerelicis  vel  de  paganis,  non  audeant  praeterire,  scituri,  quiquid  divi 
genitoris  nostri  legibus  est  in  ipsos  vel  supplicii  vel  dispendii  consti- 
tutum,  nunc  acrius  exsequendum.  Sciant  autem  moderatores  provinci- 
arum  nostrarum  et  his  apparitio  obsecundans,  primates  etiam  civita- 
tum.  defensores  nec  non  et  curiales,  procuratores  possessionum  nos- 
trarum, in  quibus  sine  timore  dispendii  coetus  inlicitos  haereticos 
inire  conperimus,  eo,  quod  fisco  sociari  non  possunt,  quippe  ad  eius 
dominium  pertinentes,  si  quid  adversus  scita  nostra  temptatum  non 
fuerit  vindicatum  adque  in  vestigio  ipso  punitum,  omnibus  se  detri- 
mentis  et  suppliciis  subjugandos,  quae  scitis  sunt  veteribus  constituta. 
Speciatim  vero  hac  lege  in  moderatores  austeriora  sancimus  et  de- 
cernimus :  namque  his  non  custcditis  omni  industria  adque  cautela  non 
solum  banc  multam  quae  in  ipsos  constituta  est,  exerceri  verum  etiam 
quae  in  eos  praefinita  est  qui  commissi  videntur  auctores,  nec  his 
tamen  remissa,  quibus  ob  contumaciam  suam  juste  est  inrogata.  In- 
super  capitali  supplicio  judicamus  ofRcia  coercenda,  quae  statuta  ne- 
glexerint." 


54 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


heretics  and  pagans,  is  directed  especially  against  official 
connivance : 

We  decree  that  no  one  shall  have  license  to  visit  any  shrine  or 
temple  whatsoever  or  to  celebrate  abominable  sacrifices  at  any 
time  or  in  any  place  whatsoever.  Therefore,  let  all  who 
attempt  to  deviate  from  the  dogma  of  the  Catholic  religion 
hasten  to  observe  the  decrees  which  we  have  recently  made, 
nor  let  anyone  dare  overlook  what  formerly  was  decreed  regard- 
ing either  heretics  or  pagans,  knowing  that  any  fine  or  punish- 
ment determined  by  the  laws  of  our  divine  father  against  them 
is  now  to  be  more  vigorously  executed.  Moreover,  let  the 
governors  of  our  provinces  and  their  subordinates,  the  leading 
citizens  of  the  towns,  the  defensors  and  curials,  and  stewards 
of  our  domains,  in  which  we  have  learnt  that  illicit  assemblies 
of  heretics  are  held  without  fear  of  fine  on  the  ground  that 
the  property  of  tlie  fiscus  cannot  be  confiscated,  let  these  know 
that  they  must  suffer  all  the  penalties  and  punishments  which 
have  been  fixed  by  former  decrees  if  they  do  not  forthwith 
take  cognizance  of,  and  punish  promptly  anything  attempted 
contrary  to  our  ordinances.  And  especially  with  reference  to 
the  governors,  by  this  law  we  order  and  decree  more  severe 
measures;  for  if  they  do  not  enforce  these  laws  with  ail  dili- 
gence and  caution,  they  will  be  made  to  pay  not  only  the  fine 
provided  for  their  own  neglect  but  also  that  provided  for  those 
who  are  shown  to  have  committed  the  ofifense,  the  latter  how- 
ever not  being  remitted  as  against  those  on  whom  it  has  justly 
been  imposed  because  of  their  contumacy.  In  addition,  we 
judge  that  the  officials  {officia)  who  neglect  the  statutes  shall 
be  subjected  to  capital  punishment. 

The  destruction  of  paganism  was  not  altogether  the  work 
of  the  Roman  administration.  The  disorders  of  the  time, 
civil  war,  and  especially  barbarian  plunderings,  must  have 
played  a  very  large  role  in  the  displacing  of  the  ancient 
cults  and  the  scattering  of  temple  treasures.  But  how  in- 
exact can  be  the  estimate  of  the  effect  of  this  lawless  force 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  S95 


55 


upon  the  religious  revolution  is  illustrated  in  the  question 
of  the  influences  of  the  ravages  of  Alaric  and  his  Goths  in 
Greece  upon  the  fortunes  of  Greek  paganism.  Upon  the 
basis  of  an  obscure  passage  in  Eunapius,  which  we  give 
below,  Cardinal  Baronius  ^  and  other  historians  after  him,^ 
have  claimed  that  it  was  owing  to  these  Goths  that  the 
mysteries  of  Eleusis  and  the  temples  and  sanctuaries  in 
general  were  destroyed  throughout  Greece.  The  case  was 
not  so  clear  to  the  pagan  Zosimus,  who  relates  the  mar- 
velous protection  of  Athens  from  the  Goths  by  the  appear- 
ance of  Athena  and  Achilles  before  its  walls.^  But  while 
we  need  not  follow  such  obvious  mythology,  and  may 
accept  the  reference  of  Eunapius  as  indicating  a  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple  at  Eleusis,  we  can  hardly  draw  from  it 
the  further  conclusion  that  there  was  a  general  destruction 
of  Greek  temples  and  sanctuaries.* 

The  passage  in  Eunapius  runs  as  follows: 

Awe  forbids  me  to  speak  the  name  of  the  hierophant,  since  he 
gave  to  me  ordination,  but  he  came  from  the  family  of  Eiimol- 
pid.  It  was  he  who  foresaw  the  destruction  of  all  Greece 
and  the  overthrow  of  paganism  (Greek  worship).  In  the 
presence  of  the  writer  he  often  declared  that  after  him,  one 

1  Baronius,  op.  cif.,  395.  "  Vides,  lector,  Dei  Consilium  tradentis 
Graecias  Gothis,  nimirum  ut  sacrorum  cultores  et  cultum,  tot  legibus 
frustra  coercitos,  idem  penitus  abolerent." 

'  Cf.  E.  Chastel,  Histoire  de  la  destruction  du  paganisme  dans  I'Em- 
pire  de  Orient  (Paris,  1850). 

3  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  6.  Philostorgius,  op.  cit..  xii,  2,  shows  that  Alaric 
took  Athens. 

*  Giildenpenning,  op.  cit.,  p.  53,  concludes  that  Greece  did  not  recover 
for  a  hundred  years,  but  Gregorovius,  Hat  Alarich  die  NationaJ- 
gotter  Griechenlands  zerstort?  {Kleine  Schriften,  1886),  concludes 
that  Eleusis  was  destroyed,  but  that  it  is  a  gross  exaggeration  to 
ascribe  to  the  Goths  the  destruction  of  the  temples  and  sanctuaries  of 
Greece. 


56 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


would  be  hierophant  who  would  not  be  able  to  mount  the 
throne  of  the  hierophants,  because  he  would  be  consecrated  to 
strange  gods  and  would  be  sworn  by  solemn  oaths  not  to  pre- 
side at  other  mysteries,  albeit,  eventually  he  would  preside 
there,  though  not  at  Athens.  His  prophetic  insight  went  so 
far  that  he  announced  that,  while  he  lived,  he  would  see  the 
temples  destroyed  and  desecrated ;  that  he  would  be  filled  with 
scorn  at  the  excesses  of  huri.an  pride ;  that  the  cult  of  the 
two  goddesses  would  perish  before  him ;  that  he  would  be 
stripped  of  saintly  office  and  that  he  would  have  neither  the 
right  nor  the  long  existence  of  a  hierophant.  And  even  so  it 
transpired.  .  .  . 

Then  came  the  invasion  of  the  barbarians,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Alaric,  who  leaped  over  the  pass  of  Thermopylae  as 
easily  as  they  would  have  traveled  a  race  course  or  a  plain 
open  to  the  coursing  of  horses.  Impious  people  clothed  in  black 
robes  opened  the  narrow  passes  to  Alaric.  They  accompanied 
the  flood  of  invaders,  and  in  opposition  to  the  law  broke 
the  band  which  attached  all  to  the  authority  of  the  hierophant. 

In  this  passage  the  expression  "  impious  men  clothed  in 
black,"  probably  means  the  monks.  It  was  a  term  com- 
monly applied  to  them  at  that  period.  Synesius  uses  it  ^ 
where  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  he  means  the 
monks.  We  knowr  that  monks  were  often  valuable  forces 
in  campaigns.  Mascezel  used  them  against  the  Donatists 
and  pagans  ^  in  399  in  his  African  campaign  in  Egypt. 
Chrysostom  sent  them  to  destroy  the  temples  ot  Phoenicia.* 
Rutulius  Namatianus  ^  shows  how  they  were  especially 
execrated  by  the  pagans,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  they 

1  Eunapius,  Vitae  Sophistarum.  Maximus. 

'  Synesius,  Opera,  M.  P.  G.,  66.    Ep.,  63,  to  Hypatia. 

'  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  36. 

*  Cf.  infra,  p.  74. 

*  Rut.  Namat.,  op.  cit.,  i,  440. 


THE  SITUATION  IN  THE  YEAR  395 


57 


worked  for  the  destruction  of  paganism.  The  Arians,  too, 
were  zealous  destroyers  of  pagan  temples,  as  Claudian  in- 
dicates when  he  describes  the  destruction  of  the  worship 
of  Cybele  in  Phrygia  by  the  Arian  Goths. ^  Religious  zeal 
aided  the  invaders;  in  turn  the  Arian  Goths  assisted  the 
monks.  It  is  quite  evident  that  they  did  a  good  deal  of 
damage  in  Greece,  and  that  they  must  have  injured  th<t 
wealthy  temples. 


1  Claudian,  In  Eut.,  ii,  274-304. 


CHAPTER  II 


Outcome  of  the  Religious  Conflict  in  the  East 

We  have  seen  how,  upon  the  death  of  Theoclosius,  poHti- 
cal  and  reHgious  strife  was  renewed  throughout  the  em- 
pire. StiHcho  in  the  West  and  Rufinus  in  the  East,  as 
guardians  of  the  youthful  princes,  found  themselves  con- 
fronted with  pagans,  Arians  and  Catholics,  all  clamoring 
for  supremacy,  all  seeking  the  support  of  the  newcomers, 
the  Germans.  But  on  account  of  its  comparatively  brief 
duration,  we  are  enabled  to  treat  the  strife  in  the  East 
separately  from  that  in  the  West  and  to  follow  it  speedily 
to  a  conclusion. 

Rufinus  had  hoped  to  ensure  his  despotic  influence  in  the 
East  by  arranging  for  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  the 
Emperor  Arcadius.  This  was  frustrated  by  a  certain  court 
eunuch,  Eutropius,  who  took  advantage  of  Rufinus'  tem- 
porary absence  to  marry  the  prince  to  Eudoxia,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  barbarian  general,  Bauto.  And  shortly  thereafter, 
Rufinus  was  murdered  ^  and  Eutropius  succeeded  to  the 
supreme  power  in  the  East. 

Officially  Eutropius  was  only  chamberlain,  praepositus 
sacri  palatii  cubicularhis,^  but  from  Zosimus  ^  we  learn 
that  he  controlled  the  emperor  Arcadius;  and  Philostor- 
gius  "  testifies  that  Caesarius.  the  praetorian  prefect,  merely 
enforced  his  commands. 

*  Supra,  p.  24. 

'  Marcellinus,  Chron.;  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  40,  17. 

*  Zos.,  of.  cit.,  V,  8,  14- 

*  Philistorgius,  op.  cit.,  xi,  4,  5. 

S8 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


59 


Eutropius  was  born  in  Armenia,  from  whence  he  was 
carried  in  his  youth  to  Assyria  and  sold  as  a  slave/  After 
having  changed  masters  many  times  he  arrived  at  Con- 
stantinople, where  General  Abundantius  (consul,  393) 
procured  for  him  a  position  as  palace  eunuch.  This  favor 
he  later  repaid  by  having  Abundantius  banished,  396."  He 
had  risen  to  some  degree  of  importance  even  under  Theo- 
dosius,  who  had  intrusted  him  with  a  mission  to  Alex- 
andria and  Lycopolis  ^  to  consult  John  the  Hermit  regard- 
ing the  approaching  war  with  Eugenius.  He  first  won 
favor  with  Arcadius  by  the  arrangement  of  the  marriage 
with  Eudoxia.  Whether  or  not,  as  Zosimus  states,*  he 
was  accessory  to  Rufinus'  murder,  at  any  rate  he  at  once 
drove  Rufinus'  wife  and  daughter  from  the  sanctuary  of 
the  church  ^  into  exile  and  proceeded  to  appropriate  their 
property/'  As  ruler  his  greed  for  money  seems  to  have 
been  even  more  insatiable  than  that  of  his  predecessor. 
Chrysostom  '  tells  of  his  great  possessions.  Claudian  de- 
scribes his  consuming  greed  and  swollen  pride,  as  well  as 
his  traffic  in  offices.*  Zosimus  writes  of  his  envy,  avarice 
and  pride, *  and  of  his  system  of  espionage  instituted  in 
order  to  discover  the  possessors  of  fortunes.^"' 

Eutropius'  religion  was  as  his  life,  one  of  opportunism. 

'Claudian,  In  Eut.,  i,  47-61. 

'  Jerome,  £/>.,  60 ;  Claudian,  In  Eut.,  i,  169,  170.  He  also  banished 
Timasius.    Zos.,  v,  9;  Eunapius,  Frag.,  70  and  71. 

'  Claudian,  In  Eut.,  i,  312 ;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  vi,  28 ;  Aug.,  City  of  God, 
V.  26;  Theod.,  op.  cit.,  v,  24. 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  8.    But  the  evidence  is  of  slight  value. 
^  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V.  8;  Marcellin,  Chron. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  42,  14. 

'  Chrysostom,  Opera,  M.  P.  G.,  47-63;  In  Eut.,  i,  2. 

*  Claudian,  In  Eut.,  i,  192-209. 
'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  8,  10. 

Eunapius,  op.  cit.,  Frag.,  67. 


6o 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


There  were  at  this  time  two  leading  parties  in  the  East; 
the  old  Roman,  or  anti-German  party,  which  Aurelian* 
headed,  and  the  German  party  which  followed  Gainas,  the 
Arian  Goth.  Eutropius  might  profit  considerably  from  the 
mutual  jealousies  of  these  two  parties,^  but  his  strength  to 
be  at  all  permanent  must  rest  on  a  more  secure  basis.  Ac- 
cordingly he  built  up  his  party  mainly  around  his  pretended 
zeal  for  the  orthodox  religion.  He  was  acute  enough  to 
see  that  the  East  was  not  suitable  for  an  heretical  or  toler- 
ant leader.  The  orthodox  party  was  powerful  and  was 
looking  for  some  one  to  lead  them  to  supremacy:  accord- 
ingly Eutropius  was  orthodox.  It  was  thus  that  he  won 
and  conserved  his  power.  The  orthodox  party  alone  would 
not  suffice  for  security,  and  accordingly  the  eunuch  en- 
tered into  an  alliance  with  Aurelian  and  the  Roman  party. 
This  coalition  continued  in  power  until  the  overthrow  of 
Eutropius.  Throughout  this  period,  the  edicts  show  Eu- 
tropius' zeal  for  orthodoxy  in  their  treatment  of  heresy. 
His  greatest  service  to  the  orthodox  party  was  in  bringing 
Chrysostom  from  Antioch  to  Constantinople.  In  all  prob- 
ability the  attachment  of  Eutropius  to  orthodoxy  was 
based  on  purely  political  grounds;  the  real  depths  of  it 
may  perhaps  be  gauged  by  the  fact  that  he  neither  hesi- 
tated to  abolish  the  sanctuary  of  the  church,^  nor  to  enter 
into  an  alliance  with  the  pagan-heretical  party  of  North 
Africa.*   Also  it  is  to  be  noted  that  he  took  the  Jews  under 

'  Aurelian  was  praetorian  prefect  in  398  and  399  until  October.  He 
secured  for  Synesius  an  audience  with  Arcadius  at  which  the  oration, 
de  Regno,  was  delivered. 

'  Synesius,  de  providentia,  an  allegory  of  the  events  at  Constanti- 
nople from  399-402.    Cf.  Seeck.  Philologus,  Hi,  442. 

^  Chrys.,  In  Eulropium  eunuchum,  I.  i.;  Cod.  Theod.,  iv,  45,  3;  ix,  40. 
16  (398). 

*  Cf.  infra,  ch.  iii. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST  6 1 


his  protection/  and  it  was  the  Jews  whom  Chrysostom 
considered  the  worst  enemies  of  the  church.  The  law  of 
the  twenty-seventh  of  February,  396,  allows  them  to  fix 
their  own  prices.^  Another  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  ApriP 
protects  them  from  insults.  That  of  the  seventeenth  of 
June,  397,  forbids  *  attacks  on  Jews  or  their  synagogues. 
But  by  a  lav,'  of  the  same  date,"  Jews  are  forbidden  to  evade 
crimes  or  debts  by  turning  Christian.  A  law  of  the  first  of 
July  of  the  same  year  grants  them  all  the  exemptions  from 
curial  duties  enjoyed  by  the  Christians.® 

The  following  are  Eutropius'  laws  against  the  heretics. 
The  one  of  the  third  of  March,  396,  reads :  ' 

'  In  the  West  at  this  same  period  Stilicho  was  following  a  very  dif- 
ference course  with  respect  to  the  Hebrews.  By  the  law  of  the  thir- 
teenth of  February  (Cod.  Theod.,  xii,  i,  157,  158),  398,  the  Jews  were 
commanded,  despite  laws  of  the  East,  to  bear  their  share  of  municipal 
taxes  and  services  (inunera) .  And  in  399,  a  law  of  the  eleventh  of 
April  (ibid.,  xvi,  8,  14),  confiscated  the  revenues  which  the  Jews  were 
wont  to  send  to  their  patriarch  in  the  East. 

-Ibid.,  xvi,  8.  De  Judaeis,  Caelicolis  et  Samaritanis,  const.  10: 
"Ad  Judaeos :  Nemo  exterus  religionis  Judaeorum  Judaeis  pretia  sta- 
tuet,  cum  venalia  proponentur:  justum  est  enim  sua  cuique  commit- 
tere."  * 

^  Ibid.,  xvi,  8,  11.  "Si  quis  audeat  inlustrium  patriarcharum  con- 
tumeliosam  per  publicum  facere  mentionem,  ultionis  sententia  sub- 
jugetur." 

*  Ibid.,  xvi,  8,  12.  "...  oportere  a  Judaeis  inruentum  contumelias 
propulsari  eorumque  synagogas  in  quiete  solita  permanere." 

^  Ibid.,  ix,  45,  2.  "  Judaei,  qui  reatu  aliquo  vel  debitis  f atigati  simul- 
ant se  Christianae  legi  velle  conjungi,  ut  ad  ecclesias  confugientes 
vitare  possint  crimina  vel  pondera  debitorum,  arceantur  nec  ante  sus- 
cipiantur,  quam  debita  universa  reddiderint  vel  fuerint  innocentia  de- 
monstrata  purgati." 

*  Ibid.,  xvi.  8,  13.  "  Sint  igitur  etiam  a  curialibus  muneribus  alieni 
pareantque  legibus  suis." 

Ibid.,  xvi,  s,  30.    "  Cuncti  haeretici  procul  dubio  noverint  omnia 


62 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Let  all  heretics  take  notice  that  all  of  their  places  in  this 
city  are  to  be  taken  away  from  them,  whether  they  are  held 
under  the  name  of  churches,  or  are  called  diaconica  (poor 
house  hospitals)  or  decanica  (prisons  for  ecclesiastical  disci- 
pline) :  and  if  in  any  private  homes  or  places  opportunity  ap>- 
pears  to  be  furnished  for  meetings  of  this  kind,  these  buildings 
and  places  are  to  be  confiscated.  Moreover  let  all  heretical 
clergymen  be  expelled  from  this  most  sacred  city  and  not  be 
allowed  to  assemble  within  its  confines.  Likewise,  it  is  for- 
bidden to  all  of  them  to  meet  in  this  city  to  perform  the  litany, 
niglit  or  day;  a  fine  of  one  hundred  pounds  of  gold  being  de- 
creed against  your  Highness  if  anything  of  this  kind  is  allowed 
either  in  public  or  in  private. 

On  the  twenty-first  or  twenty-second  of  April  of  the 
same  year  ^  the  Eunomians  were  again  attacked : 

Lest  the  grave  insanity  of  the  Eunomians  continue  to  exist, 
let  your  excellency  hasten  with  all  zeal  to  discover  their 
authors  and  teachers  and  especially  cause  their  clergy,  whose 
madness  advocates  such  error,  to  be  exiled  and  forbidden 
human  association. 

sibi  loca  huius  urbis  adimenda  esse,  sive  sub  ecclesiarum  nomine 
teneantur  sive  quae  diaconica  appellantur  vel  etiam  decanica,  sive 
in  privatis  domibus  vel  locis  huiusmodi  coetibus  copiam  prae- 
bere  videantur,  his  aedibus  vel  locis  privatis  fisco  nostro  adcorpor- 
andis.  Praeterea  omnes  clerici  haereticorum  ex  sacratissima  urbe 
pellantur  neque  his  finibus  liceat  convenire.  Ad  hoc  interdicatur  his 
omnibus  ad  Htaniam  faciendam  intra  civitatem  noctu  vel  interdie 
profanis  coire  conventibus,  slatua  videlicet  condemnatione  centum 
librarum  auri  contra  officium  sublimitatis  tuae,  si  quid  huiusmodi  fieri 
vel  in  publico  vel  in  privatis  aedibus  concedatur." 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  31  and  32.  The  one  contains  the  other.  "  Ne 
Eunomianorum  tanta  dementia  perseveret,  sublimis  magnificentia  tua 
omni  studio  auctores  doctoresque  Eunomianorum  investigare  festi- 
net  clericique  eorum  maxime,  quorum  furor  tantum  suasit  errorem, 
de  civitatibus  pellantur  extorres  et  humanis  coetibus  segregentur." 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


63 


A  law  of  the  first  of  April,  397,  against  the  followers  of 
Apollinarius/  reads : 

We  command  the  Apollinarist  teachers  with  all  speed  to 
depart  from  the  temples  of  our  beloved  city.  And  if,  con- 
cealed in  secret  places,  they  disdain  to  depart,  holding  as  they 
fancy  secret  assemblages,  let  these  places  or  homes  where 
they  assemble  be  confiscated. 

Again,  on  the  fourth  of  March,  398,  there  is  a  law  against 
the  Eunomians  which  also  include  the  Montanists  r 

Let  the  clerics  adhering  to  the  Eunomian  and  Montanist 

^  Cod.  Tlieod.,  xvi,  5.  33.  "  Doctores  Apollinariorum  tota  maturitate 
praecipimus  ex  aedibus  carae  nobis  abscedere  civitatis,  ita  ut,  si  ob- 
umbrati  latebris  abire  neglexerint,  occultos  coetus.  ut  aestimant,  habi- 
turi,  ea  loca  vel  domus,  quibus  praedictos  congregaverint,  fisci  rationi 
nectantur."  Apollinarius  of  Laodicea  (fl.  382  A.  D.),  was  a  strong 
opponent  of  both  the  orthodox  and  tlie  Arian.  His  faith  was  founded 
on  the  idea  of  the  union  of  the  body,  soul  and  spirit  and  added  an- 
other to  the  numerous  Eastern  heresies. 

-  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  34.  "  Eunomianae  superstitionis  clerici  seu  Mon- 
tanistae  consortio  vel  conversatione  ci\itatum  universarum  adque 
urbium  expellantur.  Qui  si  forte  in  rure  degentes  aut  populum  con- 
gregare  aut  aliquos  probabuntur  inire  conventus,  perpetuo  deporten- 
tur,  procuratore  possessionis  uLima  animadversione  punito,  domino 
possessione  privando,  in  qua  his  consciis  ac  tacentibus  infausti  dam- 
natique  conventus  probabuntur  agitati.  Si  vero  in  qualibet  post  pub- 
licatam  sollemniter  jussionem  urbe  deprehensi  aut  aliquam  celebrandae 
superstitionis  gratia  ingressi  domum  probabuntur,  et  ipsi  adeinptis 
bonis  ultima  animadversione  plectantur  et  domus  in  qua  ea  sorte, 
qua  dictum  est,  ingressi  nec  statim  a  domino  dominave  domus  expulsi 
ac  proditi  fuerint,  fisco  sine  dilatione  societur.  Codices  sane  eorum 
scelerum  omnium  doctrinam  ac  materiam  continentes  summa  sagaci- 
tate  mox  quaeri  ac  prodi  exerta  auctoritate  mandamus  sub  aspectibus 
judicantum  incendio  mox  cremandos.  Ex  quibus  si  qui  forte  aliquid 
qualibet  occasione  vel  fraude  occultasse  nec  prodidisse  convincitur, 
sciat  se  velut  noxiorum  codicum  et  maleficii  crimine  conscribtorum 
retentatorem  capita  esse  plectendum."  Montanism  was  that  early 
ecstatic  and  visionary  sort  of  religion,  which  numbered  among  its  con- 
verts Tertullian. 


64 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


superstitions  be  excluded  from  residence  in  or  visits  to  any  city 
or  town.  Should  by  chance  any  of  these  heretics  sojourning 
in  the  country  be  found  attempting  to  gather  or  hold  an  as- 
sembly, let  them  be  sent  into  perpetual  exile,  and  let  the  over- 
seers of  the  property  suffer  with  capital  punishment,  and  let 
the  owners  be  deprived  of  the  property,  if  it  be  proved  that 
these  vile  and  forbidden  assemblies  were  held  with  their  knowl- 
edge and  acquiescence.  Furthermore,  if  after  this  order  has 
been  formally  published  in  any  city  they  shall  have  been  ap- 
prehended in  it  or  be  proven  to  have  entered  any  home  for 
the  sake  of  celebrating  their  superstition,  let  them  receive  cap- 
ital punishment,  with  forfeiture  of  goods,  and  let  that  house 
be  confiscated  without  delay  which  they  entered  in  the  manner 
aforesaid,  and  from  which  they  were  not  immediately  ex- 
pelled and  reported  by  the  master  or  mistress.  Besides,  we 
command,  in  the  exercise  of  our  authority,  that  their  books 
which  contain  the  substances  of  their  guilty  teachings  be  sought 
out  with  the  utmost  care  and  produced  to  be  burnt  before  the 
eyes  of  the  magistrates.  And  if  anyone  shall  have  been  con- 
victed of  having  concealed  or  of  not  having  produced  them,  let 
him  know  that  for  having  them  in  his  possession  he  is  to  re- 
ceive capital  punishment,  as  being  guilty  of  having  dangerous 
books  and  writings  of  sorcery. 

The  mildness  of  the  few  contemporary  laws  dealing 
with  the  pagan  party  is  probably  due  to  the  alliance  be- 
tween the  Roman  party  and  Eutropius.  A  law  of  the 
twenty-third  of  March,  396,^  deals  with  apostasy: 

Let  this  punishment  fall  upon  those  who  having  been  Chris- 
tians, stain  themselves  with  the  impious  superstition  of  idol- 
atry; to  wit,  that  they  shall  not  have  the  right  of  testating  in 
favor  of  persons  not  of  kin,  but  that  their  succession  shall 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  7,  6.  "  Eos,  qui,  cum  essent  Christiani,  idolorum 
se  superstitione  impia  maculaverint,  haec  poena  persequitur,  ut  tes- 
tandi  in  alienos  non  habeant  facultatem  sed  certa  his  generis  sui  propago 
succedat,  id  est  pater  ac  mater,  frater  ac  soror,  filius  ac  filia,  nepos  ac 
neptis,  nec  ulterius  sibi  progrediendi  quisquam  vindicet  potestatem." 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST  65 

devolve  upon  their  immediate  relations,  j.  e.  father  and  mother, 
brother  and  sister,  son  and  daughter,  grandson  and  grand- 
daughter, nor  shall  any  person  claim  power  to  go  beyond  this 
order. 

The  pagan  holiday  of  the  Maiuma  was  restored  by  a 
law  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  April,  396,^  but  another  law  of 
the  seventh  of  December  shows  that  the  pagans  were  not 
to  enjoy  any  special  privileges :  ^ 

If  any  privileges  have  been  conceded  by  ancient  law  to  the 
priests,  ministers,  prefects,  hierophants  or  to  any  like  person, 
by  whatever  name  designated,  let  them  be  completely  abol- 
ished. Let  such  persons  not  congratulate  themselves  that 
while  their  profession  is  known  to  be  condemned  by  law  they 
themselves  are  fortified  by  privilege. 

Naturally  with  the  waning  of  paganism  the  disused  tem- 
ples fell  into  decay  and  it  became  a  question  of  what  to  do 
with  the  ruins.  A  law  of  the  first  of  November,  397,  af- 
fords a  partial  answer: 

Since  you  have  signified  that  roads  and  bridges  over  which 
there  is  much  travel,  and  aqueducts,  and,  indeed,  the  walls  of 
the  cities,  ought  to  be  improved,  if  the  costs  could  be  provided, 
we  decree  that  all  the  material,  which  is  reported  to  have 
been  provided  by  the  demolition  of  the  temples,  be  set  apart 
for  the  above-mentioned  necessities,  by  which  all  may  be 
brought  into  good  repair.^ 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xv,  6,  i.  "  Clementiae  nostrae  placuit,  ut  Maiumae 
provincialibus  laetitia  redderetur,  ita  tamen,  ut  servetur  honestas  et 
verecundia  castis  moribus  perseveret." 

-  Ihid.,  xvi,  10,  14.  "  Privilegia  si  qua  concessa  sunt  antique 
jure  sacerdotibus  ministris  praefectis  hierofantis  sacrorum  sive  quo- 
libet  alio  nomine  nuncupantur,  penitus  aboleantur  nec  gratulentur  se 
privilegio  esse  munitos,  quorum  professio  per  legem  cognoscitur  esse 
damnata." 

3  Ibid.,  XV,  I,  36.    "  Quoniani  vias  pontes,  per  quos  itinera  cele- 


66 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Mention  has  already  been  made  of  Eutropius'  greatest 
service  to  orthodoxy  in  bringing  Chrysostom  to  Constan- 
tinople. Apparently  Chrysostom  was  selected  by  Eutro- 
pius as  being  one  suited  on  account  of  his  oratorical  ability 
to  control  the  populace  of  the  capital  and  thus  to  strengthen 
the  orthodox  party,  upon  whose  support  his  own  power  in 
large  part  depended.  As  Archbishop  of  Constantinople, 
Chrysostom  exceeded  his  patron's  expectations.  Not  long 
was  he  to  serve  as  a  foil  to  Eutropius;  he  was  to  become 
himself  the  leader  of  the  East,  its  political  as  well  as  re- 
ligious guide.  Therefore,  it  will  be  well  to  note  his  atti- 
tude toward  the  other  parties  of  the  time.  The  immoral- 
ities of  Eastern  civilization  occupied  his  chief  thought. 
He  was  above  all  a  moralist,  and  as  such  was  rather  an 
orator  and  expounder  than  a  controversalist.  Toward 
persons  and  sects  he  was  on  the  whole  tolerant.  In  fact 
toleration  shown  to  the  Origenistic  sect  was  the  weapon 
used  by  his  enemies  to  accomplish  his  ultimate  overthrow. 
As  priest  at  Antioch  during  the  period  in  which  most  of 
his  writings  were  produced,  Chrysostom  had  been  engaged 
in  the  contests  with  pagans,  Eunomians  and  Jews.  In  the 
contemporary  Hellenes,  or  pagans,  he  saw  many  virtues, 
and  his  attitude  to  them  is  one  of  almost  perfect  toleration 
It  was  only  their  morals  that  he  attacked  and  therein  they 
were  often  better  than  Christians.  They  despised  the 
money  for  which  the  Christians  were  so  eager ;  ^  their 
word  was  often  better  than  that  of  a  Christian.  However, 
as  a  rule,  they  lived  abominable  lives  and  would  not  be 

brantur,  adque  aquaeductus,  inuros  quin  etiam  juvari  provisis  sump- 
tibus  oportere  signasti,  cunctani  materiam,  quae  ordinata  dicitur 
ex  demolitione  templorum,  memoratis  necessitatibus  deputari  cen- 
semus,  quo  ad  perfectionem  cuncta  perveniant." 

'  Chrysostom,  Opera,  M.  P.  G.  (Paris,  1858-1860),  vols.  47-64,  ^» 
Evangelium  Joannis  sermones,  84,  3;  51. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  TN  THE  EAST  67 

converted  from  their  drunkenness  and  fornication.  His 
De  St.  Babyla  contra  Gentiles  was  written  to  combat  their 
follies.  He  argued  against  their  belief  in  auguries  and 
prophecies;^  observances  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days;  the 
use  of  amulets  and  magic  practices.  He  would  replace 
these  amulets  by  the  true  cross,  and  their  magic  formulas 
by  prayer.  Statues  were  but  images  of  fornication.  And 
yet,  the  thing  least  permitted  to  the  Christian  was  to  cor- 
rect by  violence  the  fault  of  sinners.  They  had  no  other 
recourse  than  persuasion,  never  constraint.  The  laws  did 
not  give  the  power  to  constrain  sinners  and  even  if  they 
did  it  could  not  be  used,  for  the  Saviour  has  a  crown  only 
for  those  who  abstain  from  evil  by  free  will  alone.  While 
he  would  avoid  pagans  it  was  not  necessary  to  anathema- 
tize either  the  living  or  the  dead ;  ^  "  anathematize  dogmas 
but  spare  individuals.  Nothing  is  so  sweet  as  vengeance 
against  an  enemy,  but  vengeance  should  be  to  turn  the 
other  cheek."  ^  These  were  the  ideas  of  the  Bishop  of 
Antioch.  As  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  in  actual  conflict 
with  pagan  parties,  we  shall  see  that  he  assisted  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  pagan  temples  of  Phoenicia.*  In  fact,  he 
seems  to  have  made  the  conversion  of  that  province  one  of 
his  chief  ambitions.  We  shall  also  find  him  assisting 
Porphyry  to  secure  the  destruction  of  the  pagan  temples 
in  Gaza. 

It  was  not  in  pagan  temples  or  pagan  manners  but  in 
pagan  literature  that  Chrysostom  saw  the  real  enemy  of 

1  Chrys.,  In  Epistolam  I  ad  Corinthios,  4,  11,  29;  In  Psalmum,  cxiii,  4. 

'  Chry.,  Adversus  Judaeos,  viii,  4;  De  Laaaro  Concio,  i,  5.  Horn. 
25  on  znd  Ep.  to  Cor.,  3.  De  non  Anatheniatizandis  vivis  vel  de- 
functis. 

3  Chrys.,  Horn.  22  on  Ep.  to  Rom. 
*  Cf.  infra,  p.  74. 


68 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  orthodox  faith.  He  says  little  of  the  schools  of  gram- 
marians except  to  complain  of  their  severe  discipline.  He 
hated  rhetoricians,  as  the  enemies  of  Christianity.  They 
had  no  real  usefulness;  they  sought  only  vain  admiration. 
He  was  always  complaining  that  classical  education  was 
opposed  to  the  ideas  of  the  church.^  He  despised  Plat.> 
for  his  commonage  of  wives."  The  writings  of  the  Greeks 
with  their  pretended  science  only  augmented  the  danger- 
ous ignorance  of  youth  and  plunged  it  into  heavier  doubts. 
They  served  to  make  the  children  admire  pretended  heroes 
who  were  in  reality  merely  the  slaves  of  their  passion  and 
vices.  He  would  teach  not  Grecian  fables  but  the  fear  of 
God,  that  is  morality.^  This  was  to  be  learned  first  at 
home,  later  in  the  monastery. 

His  attitude  toward  the  heretics  was  much  the  same  * 
as  his  attitude  toward  pagans.  He  denied  their  virtues  and 
refuted  their  doctrines.  It  was  right  to  repress  them,  to  close 
their  mouths,  to  deprive  them  of  freedom  of  speech  and  to 
forbid  their  reunions.  Only  they  must  not  be  put  to  death. 
That  it  was  Chrysostom  who  obtained  the  law  of  the 
fourth  of  March,  398,^  which  sentenced  heretics  to  capital 
punishment,  seems  doubtful,  inasmuch  as  it  was  issued 
only  three  days  after  his  ordination  and  contradicted  his 
general  attitude  towards  heresy.  However,  he  did  work 
earnestly  against  the  heterodox.  He  offset  the  nightly 
processions  of  the  Arians  at  Constantinople  with  displays 

1  Chry.,  In  Joan.,  3 ;  Contra  Jiidaeos  el  Gentiles,  13 ;  De  Lacaro 
Concio,  iii,  3. 

2  Chry.,  Act  A  p.,  4,  3-4. 

s  Chry.,  Ep.  to  Tlies.,  ii,  2,  4. 

*  Chry.,  ibid.  De  non  anathematizaudis  vivis  vel  defnnctis,  4;  De 
incomprchensibili  del  Nattira,  ii,  7;  in  Matt.,  46,  2;  In  Joannen  Homil., 
xli,  4 ;  In  Tim.,  7,  2. 

s  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  34.    Cf.  supra,  p.  63. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST  69 

of  his  own/  And  Gainas'  attempt  to  gain  for  these  Arians 
a  church  in  that  city  he  successfully  thwarted.^  He  con- 
verted Scythia  from  Arianism  by  giving  that  province  or- 
thodox ministers  who  spoke  their  own  tongue,^  and  he 
purged  Syria  of  the  heresy  of  Marcian  by  means  of  imper- 
ial edicts/  On  his  journey  into  Asia  he  restored  to  the 
orthodox  many  churches  of  the  heretics.  Yet  even  though 
Socrates  may  tell  us  that  he  took  away  many  churches 
from  the  Novatians  and  Quartodecimans,^  we  know  that 
he  still  allowed  Sisinnius,  their  bishop,  to  preach  at  Con- 
stantinople.* 

It  was  against  the  Jews  and  their  proselyting  that  John 
Chrysostom  exhibited  his  philippic  abilities.  He  delivered 
a  series  of  eight  discourses  against  them  at  Antioch  in 
386,  a  prototype  of  those  sweeping  and  unfounded  accu- 
sations so  commonly  reported  throughout  the  whole  middle 
age.  It  was  necessary  for  each  Christian  to  prevent  his 
brother  from  consorting  with  the  Jews,  even  if  it  became 
necessary  to  constrain  him.^  Their  feasts,  accompanied 
by  their  ridiculous  dances,  were  worse  than  revelries ;  their 
tumultuous  fetes  were  impure  and  altogether  abominable; 
their  synagogue  was  a  place  of  debauchery,  a  cave  of 
robbers  and  of  wild  beasts,  the  abode  of  demons;  they 
conducted  thither  troops  of  loose  women,  of  infamous  men, 
than  which  the  theatre  had  nothing  more  vile.    No  Jew 

1  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  8;  Soz.,  po.  cit.,  viii,  8. 

2  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  4,  8 ;  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  8 ;  Theod.,  op.  cit.,  v,  32. 
'  Theod.,  op.  cit.,  v,  30-31. 

*  Theod.,  op.  cit.,  v,  31. 

*  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  19. 

*  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  22. 

'  Chry.,  1st  Horn,  against  the  Jews;  Horn,  on  the  Ep.  of  Paul,  x,  i. 


70 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


adored  God.  They  did  not  know  the  Father ;  they  had  cru- 
cified the  Son ;  they  repulsed  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  were 
rich,  intriguing,  quarrelsome,  and  superstitious.  They 
trafficked  on  the  public  credulity  by  means  of  amulets  and 
enchantments  for  curing  evil ;  pawnbrokers,  vile  merchants, 
men  without  consciences,  enemies  of  God.  what  crimes  had 
they  not  committed?  They  had  put  to  death  their  prophets, 
sacrificed  to  demons  their  sons  and  daughters,  trampled 
under  foot  all  the  laws  of  nature.  One  does  not  know  how 
much  impiety  and  cruelty  prevails  among  them.  .  .  .  The 
prophet  says  that  every  one  of  them  had  followed  his  neigh- 
bor's wife  with  a  furious  passion.  Addicted  to  their 
bellies,  greedy  for  present  fortune,  th^y  were  gormandizers 
and  lascivious  to  such  a  degree  that  they  were  in  no 
way  superior  to  beasts.  They  knew  but  one  thing,  to  be 
slaves  to  their  gluttony,  to  become  intoxicated,  to  vie  for 
dances.  If  one  would  recount  their  robberies,  their  avar- 
ice, their  treasons,  their  miserable  practices,  one  day  would 
not  suffice.  And  it  is  with  such  a  class  that  Christians 
would  pray  and  feast.^ 

Chrysostom,  who  had  been  elected  archbishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, hurried  there  under  military  escort  to  avoid 
trouble  with  his  congregation  at  Antioch.  He  was  conse- 
crated in  February,  398,  just  in  time  to  play  an  active  part 
in  an  interesting  political  situation. 

Eutropius'  supremacy  in  Eastern  affairs  did  not  improve 
the  relations  between  East  and  West.  He  was  fearful  of 
the  power  and  claims  of  Stilicho,^  and  consequently  eagerly 
grasped  an  opportunity  offered  him  by  Count  Gildo  in  397 

1  Ghry.,  ist  Horn,  against  the  Jeivs,  6,  7. 

'  We  might  infer  this  from  a  severe  law  passed  September  4,  397, 
against  treason,  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  14,  3,  which  indicates  that  Eutropius 
was  in  mortal  fear  of  someone. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


71 


to  weaken  his  rival  in  Italy  and  strengthen  his  own  power 
by  the  acquisition  of  Rome's  source  of  supplies,  the  prov- 
ince of  Africa.  The  history  of  the  revolt  belongs  to  the 
story  of  Africa  and  the  fortunes  of  African  heresy  and 
paganism/  but  it  had  far-reaching  effects  in  the  East  as 
well.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  revolt  that  Chrysostom 
was  secured  by  Eutropius,  perhaps  to  offset  any  evil  ef- 
fects that  might  ensue  from  the  alliance  with  .A^frican 
paganism  and  heresy.  The  permanent  settlement  of  both 
the  political  and  religious  situations  for  the  East  followed 
almost  immediately  upon  the  failure  of  this  revolt  and  the 
dissolution  of  the  alliance  with  the  African  rebel. 

Following  closely  upon  the  failure  of  his  African  plans. 
Eutropius  found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  revolt  in  the 
East,  which  had  been  plotted  against  his  tyrannical  gov- 
ernment by  the  leaders  of  the  Arian-Gothic  party.  The 
leaders  of  the  revolt  were  Gainas  and  his  relative  Tribi- 
gild.^  Though  we  might  look  for  Stilicho  to  aid  Gainas 
on  account  of  past  associations,  there  is  no  evidence  that 
he  did  so.  Tribigild,  with  Jhe  troops  of  Phrygia  which 
were  under  his  command,  commenced  to  plunder  that  dis- 
trict. The  inability  of  the  eunuch  or  his  generals  to  bribe 
or  conquer  the  rebels  led  to  the  fall  of  Eutropius.*  Seeing 
his  end  approaching,  he  fled  to  Chrysostom/  despite  the 
fact  that  he  had  probably  offended  his  one-time  patron  by 

*  Cf.  infra,  ch.  iii. 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V.  13  et  seq.;  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  6;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  4; 
Claudian  ignores  Gainas.    Claudian,  hi  Ent.,  ii. 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit..  V,  17;  Philostorgius,  op.  cit.,  xi,  6,  attributes  Eutro- 
pius' fall  to  the  righteous  wrath  of  Eudoxia.  Neither  Claudian  nor 
Chrysostom  assign  any  cause  for  the  fall. 

*  Chry.,  Horn,  in  Eut.;  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  5;  Soz.,  op.  cit..  viii,  7;  Zos., 
op.  cit.,  V,  18. 


72 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


having  abolished  the  right  of  asylum/  Chrysostom  pro- 
tected him  but  took  the  occasion  to  deliver  homilies  against 
him.  Promised  his  life,  Eutropius  was  banished  to  Cyprus 
only  to  be  recalled,  tried  and  slain  at  Chalcedon.-  The 
code  preserves  evidence  of  this  fall  ^  in  an  edict  confiscat- 
ing all  his  property,  decreeing  all  of  his  acts  void  and 
ordering  the  destruction  of  all  his  statues  and  paintings  in 
order  that  the  memory  of  his  rule  might  be  blotted  out. 
His  fall  was  a  blow  for  the  Roman,  anti-Germanic  party, 
i.  c,  the  orthodox.  It  was  followed  by  Gainas  demanding 
an  interview  with  the  emperor  at  Chalcedon,*  where  an 
agreement  was  afifected  by  which  Gainas  was  to  continue 
as  master  of  the  militia  in  the  East  and  Tribigild  and  the 
Goths  were  to  be  transported  into  Europe.  Gainas  also 
compelled  the  surrender  of  the  leaders  of  the  Roman  party 
— Aurelian,  Saturninus  and  John.® 

In  this  unsettled  state  Chrysostom  by  means  of  his  in- 
fluence with  the  people  of  Constantinople  seems  to  have 
become  more  and  more  dominant.  He  stood  in  the  way  of 
Gainas'  restoring  the  Arians  to  full  rights,"  and  his  ser- 
vices were  so  necessary  that  the  emperor  could  not  spare 
him  from  the  city  long  enough  to  permit  his  taking  a  trip 
through  the  Asiatic  provinces  where  the  churches  were  in 
need  of  supervision.  Chrysostom's  general  tolerant  policy 
permitted  him  to  work  more  or  less  in  harmony  with  the 
anti-Roman  party.    An  early  edict  of  the  party  newly  in- 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  45,  3;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  7;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  13; 
Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  5 ;  Claudian,  In  Eut. 
'  Zos.,  op.  ext.,  V.  18,  in  the  summer  of  399. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  40,  17;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  18;  Phil.,  op.  cit.,  xi,  6. 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  18. 
»  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  18. 

*  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  6;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  viii,  8. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


72> 


vested  with  power  restored  on  the  sixth  of  July,  399,  cer- 
tain rights  to  the  Eunomians.^ 

We  remit  to  the  Eunomians  the  punishment  which  takes  away 
the  right  of  making  wills  and  of  changing  the  status  of  sub- 
jects [to  that  of  citizens].  We  grant  them  the  free  right  of 
disposing  of  their  goods  as  they  wish  and  of  receiving  gifts 
from  others.  Let  them  abstain  from  assemblages  and  all  illicit 
gatherings,  and  let  them  know  that  meetings  are  forbidden 
them  or  punishments  will  follow ;  for  the  manager  of  an  estate 
or  the  stewards  of  an  urban  home  in  which  profane  mysteries 
shall  have  been  celebrated  shall  suffer  capital  punishment  and 
the  possessions  and  home  shall  be  confiscated,  if  the  owner 
knew  and  failed  to  forbid  the  transgression  of  our  command. 
Moreover  let  the  ministers  of  this  criminal  sect  who  falsely 
call  themselves  bishops  who  shall  have  been  discovered  in  any 
gathering  be  deported  and  all  of  their  goods  be  confiscated. 

The  new  coalition  was  anti-pagan.  It  proceeded  by  a 
law  of  the  second  of  October,  397,  to  forbid  the  pagan 
celebration  of  the  Maiuma  which  had  been  permitted  in 
396 :  "  We  permit  the  sports  to  be  held,  lest  excessive  re- 
striction cause  gloom.  We  forbid,  however,  that  foul 
and  indecent  spectacle  Maiuma,  which  is  merely  another 
name  for  insolent  license."  ' 

'  Cod.  Tlieod.,  xvi,  5,  36.  "  Eunomianis  poenam  adimendae  testa- 
menti  factionis  peregrinorumque  mutandae  condicionis  remittimus. 
Patimur  eos  et  donandi  e  suis  f acultatibus,  ut  velint,  et  dono  rursus 
ab  aliis  accipiendi  habere  liberam  potestatem.  Conciliis  vero  abstine- 
ant,  ccetus  inlicitos  derelinquant  et  sciant  sibi  interdictas  esse  collec- 
tiones  aut  poenas  paratas,  ita  ut  fundi  procurator  vel  domus  urbanae 
villicus,  in  quibus  profana  mysteria  fuerint  celebrata,  ultimo  supplicio 
feriantur  ipsaque  possessio  et  domus  fisco  vindicetur,  si  sciente  dom- 
ino et  non  prohibente  nostrae  jussioni  fuerit  obnisum.  Praeterea 
ministri  sceleris,  quos  falso  nomine  suo  antistites  vocant,  si  in  collec- 
tione  aliqua  fuerint  comprehensi,  deportentur  omnibus  bonis  ablatis." 

2  Ibid.,  XV,  6,  2.    "  Ludicras  artes  concedimus  agitari  ne  ex  nimia 


74 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGIOh 


There  was  also  a  renewed  attack  on  pagan  temples.  A 
law  of  the  tenth  of  July,  399,  provides  for  the  destruction 
of  rural  shrines:  "If  there  be  any  temples  in  the  fields  let 
them  be  destroyed  but  without  collecting  crowds  or  raising 
disturbance.  All  sources  of  superstition  will  be  removed  by 
their  suppression.'"  Whether  or  not  Chrysostom  was  per- 
sonally responsible  for  the  passage  of  this  law  we  cannot 
say,  but  we  do  know  that  he  took  advantage  of  it  to  organize 
bands  of  monks  for  the  destruction  of  the  pagan  temples  of 
Phoenicia.  Funds  for  this  work  were  donated  by  certain  of 
his  pious  female  friends.^  And  when  Porphyry  of  Gaza 
wanted  to  secure  the  destruction  of  the  pagan  temples  of 
his  province  he  received  assistance  from  Chrysostom.  The 
story  of  what  befell  Porphyry  at  Constantinople  has  been 
told  by  Mark  the  Deacon,  one  of  his  companions.  As  an 
exposition  of  the  inner  workings  of  politics  and  religion  at 
the  court  of  Arcadius  it  is  worth  quoting. 

The  bishops  set  sail  from  Caesarea  and  reached  Rhodes  in 
ten  days,  where  they  visited  a  holy  hermit  named  Procopius. 
who  was  gifted  with  second  sight,  and  told  them  all  that 
would  befall  them  when  they  should  arrive  at  Byzantium. 
The  voyage  to  Byzantium  occupied  likewise  ten  days.  Hav- 
ing secured  lodgings,  they  visited  the  patriarch,  John  Chry- 
sostom, on  the  morrow  of  their  arrival.  "And  he  received  us 
with  great  honor  and  courtesy,  and  asked  us  why  we  under- 
took the  fatigue  of  the  journey,  and  we  told  him;  and  when 

harum  restrictione  tristitia  generetur.  Illud  vero  quod  sibi  nomen 
procax  licentia  vindicavit,  Maiuma,  foedum  adque  indecorum  spec- 
taculum,  denegamus." 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  16.  "  Si  qua  in  agris  templa  sunt,  sine  turba 
ac  tumultu  diruantur.  His  enim  dejectis  atque  sublatis  omnis  super- 
stitioni  materia  consumetur." 

-Theod.,  op.  cit.,  v,  29;  Chry.,  Ep.,  50,  51,  52,  53,  54.  55,  etc.  Even 
after  his  exile  Chrysostom  continued  to  write  letters  urging  the  com- 
pletion of  this  work. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


75 


learned  the  reason  he  recollected  that  on  a  former  occasion 
;  made  this  petition  by  letter,  and  recognizing  me  (Marcus) 
seted  me  kindly.  And  he  bade  us  not  to  despond,  but  to 
ve  hope  in  the  mercies  of  God,"  and  said,  "  I  cannot  speak 

the  Emperor,  for  the  Empress  excited  his  indignation 
ainst  me  because  I  charged  her  with  robbery  and  theft, 
id  I  am  not  concerned  about  his  anger  for  it  is  themselves 
hurt  and  not  me,  and  even  if  they  hurt  my  body,  they  do 
2  more  good  to  my  soul.  .  .  .  To-morrow  I  shall  send  for 
;  eunuch  Amantius,  the  chamberlain  of  the  Empress,  who 
s  great  influence  with  her  and  is  really  a  servant  of  God. 
d  I  shall  commit  the  matter  to  him,  and  if  God  consents  all 
11  go  well."  Having  received  these  injunctions  and  a 
:ommendation  to  God,  we  proceeded  to  our  inn.  And  on 
e  next  day  we  went  to  the  bishop  and  found  in  his  house 
e  chamberlain  Amantius,  for  the  bishop  had  attended  to  our 
fair  and  had  sent  for  him  and  explained  it  to  him.  And 
len  we  came  in  Amantius  was  told  we  were  the  persons  of 
lom  he  had  heard,  he  stood  up  and  did  obeisance  to  the 
DSt  holy  bishops,  inclining  his  face  to  the  ground,  and  they, 
len  they  were  told  who  he  was,  embraced  him  and  kissed 
m.  And  the  most  holy  Archbishop  John  bade  them  explain 
ally  their  affairs  to  the  chamberlain.  And  the  most  holy 
3rphyrius  explained  to  him  all  the  affairs  of  the  idolaters, 
iw  licentiously  they  performed  the  unlawful  rites  and  op 
essed  the  Christians.  And  Amantius,  when  he  had  heard 
is  wept,  and  was  filled  with  zeal  for  God,  and  said  to  them. 
Be  not  despondent,  fathers,  for  Christ  can  shield  this  re- 
gion. Do  you  therefore  pray  and  I  will  speak  to  the 
mpress.  And  I  trust  in  the  God  of  the  Universe  that  He 
ill  show  mercy  according  to  His  Wont."  With  these  in- 
nctions  he  departed ;  and  having  conversed  on  many  spir- 
lal  topics  with  the  archbishop  John,  and  received  his  bless- 
g,  we  withdrew. 

The  next  day,  the  chamberlain,  Amantius,  sent  two  deacons 
bid  us  come  to  the  Palace  and  we  rose  and  proceeded  with 
I  expedition.    And  we  found  him  awaiting  us,  and  he  took 


76 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  two  bishops  and  introduced  them  to  the  Empress  Eudoxia. 
And  when  she  saw  them  she  saluted  them  first  and  said, 
"  Give  me  your  blessing  fathers."  And  they  did  obeisance 
to  her.  Now  she  was  sitting  on  a  golden  sofa.  And  she  said 
to  them,  "  Excuse  me,  priests  of  Christ,  on  account  of  my 
situation,  for  I  was  anxious  to  meet  your  sanctity  in  the 
antechamber.  But  pray  God  on  my  behalf  that  I  may  be  de-l| 
livered  happily  of  the  child  which  is  in  my  womb."  And  the 
bishops,  wondering  at  her  condescension,  said,  "  May  He  who 
blessed  the  womb  of  Sarah  and  Rebecca  and  Elizabeth,  bless 
and  quicken  the  child  in  thine."  After  further  edifying  con- 
versation, she  said  to  them,  "  I  know  why  you  came,  as  the 
chamberlain  Amantius  explained  it  to  me.  But  if  you  fairi 
would  instruct  me,  fathers,  I  am  at  your  service."  Thus 
bidden,  they  told  her  all  about  the  idolaters,  and  the  impious 
rites  which  they  fearlessly  practiced,  and  their  oppression  of 
the  Christians,  whom  they  did  not  allow  to  perform  a  public 
duty  nor  to  till  their  lands,  "  from  whose  produce  they  pay 
the  dues  to  your  imperial  majesty."  And  the  empress  said, 
"  Do  not  despond ;  for  I  trust  in  the  Lord  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  that  I  shall  persuade  the  king  to  do  these  things  that 
are  due  to  your  saintly  faith  and  to  dismiss  you  hence  well 
favored.  Depart,  then,  to  your  privacy,  for  you  are  fatigued 
and  pray  God  to  grant  my  request."  She  then  commanded 
money  to  be  brought  and  gave  three  darics  apiece  to  each  of 
the  most  holy  bishops,  saying,  "  In  the  meantime  take  this  for 
your  expenses."  And  the  Bishops  took  the  money  and  blessed 
her  abundantly  and  departed.  And  when  they  went  out  they 
gave  the  greater  part  of  the  money  to  the  deacons  who  were 
standing  at  the  door,  reserving  little  for  themselves. 

And  when  the  Emperor  came  into  the  apartment  of  the 
Empress,  she  told  him  all  touching  the  bishops,  and  requested 
him  that  the  heathen  temples  of  Gaza  should  be  torn  down. 
But  the  Emperor  was  put  out  when  he  heard  it  and  said,  "  I 
know  that  city  is  devoted  to  idols,  but  it  is  loyally  disposed  in 
the  matter  of  taxation  and  pays  large  sums  to  the  revenue. 
If  then  we  overwhelm  the  pagans  with  sudden  terror,  they 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


,vill  betake  themselves  to  flight  and  we  shall  lose  much  of  the 
•evenue.  But  if  it  must  be,  let  us  afflict  them  partially,  depriv- 
ng  idolaters  of  their  dignities  and  other  public  offices,  and  bid 
heir  temples  be  shut  up  and  be  used  no  longer.  For  when 
hey  are  afflicted  and  straitened  on  all  sides  they  will  recog- 
lize  the  truth  but  an  extreme  measure  coming  suddenly  is 
lard  on  subjects."  The  Empress  was  very  much  vexed  at 
his  reply,  for  she  was  ardent  in  matters  of  faith,  but  she 
nerely  said,  "  The  Lord  can  assist  his  servants,  the  Christians, 
vhether  we  consent  or  decline." 

We  learned  these  details  from  the  chamberlain  .\mantius. 
3n  the  morrow  the  Empress  sent  for  us,  and  having  first 
laluted  the  holy  bishops  according  to  her  custom,  she  bade 
hem  sit  down.  And  after  a  long  spiritual  talk,  she  said, 
'  I  spoke  to  the  Emperor  and  he  was  rather  put  out.  But  do 
lot  despond,  for,  God  willing,  I  cannot  cease  until  ye  be 
;atisfied  in  your  holy  purpose."  And  the  bishops  made  obei- 
lance.  Then  the  sainted  Porphyrius,  pricked  by  the  spirit, 
md  recollecting  the  word  of  the  thrice  blessed  anchorite,  Pro- 
:opius,  said  to  the  Empress.  "  Exert  yourself  for  the  sake  of 
Christ,  and  in  recompense  for  your  exertions  He  will  bestow 
)n  you  a  son  whose  life  and  reign  you  will  see  and  enjoy 
nany  years."  At  these  words  the  Empress  was  filled  with 
oy  and  her  face  flushed,  and  new  beauty  beyond  that  which 
;he  already  had,  passed  into  her  face;  for  the  face  shows 
vhat  passes  within.  x\nd  she  said,  "  Pray,  fathers,  that  ac- 
:ording  to  your  word,  with  the  will  of  God,  I  may  bear  a  male 
:hild,  and  if  it  so  befall,  I  promise  you  to  do  all  that  )^ou  ask. 
\nd  another  thing,  for  which  ye  ask  not,  I  intend  to  do  with 
he  consent  of  Christ;  I  will  found  a  church  at  Gaza  in  the 
;enter  of  the  city.  Depart  then  in  peace  and  rest  quietly, 
jraying  constantly  for  my  happy  delivery ;  for  the  time  of  my 
confinement  is  near."  The  bishops  commended  her  to  God 
md  left  the  Palace.  And  prayer  was  made  that  she  should 
Dear  a  male  child;  for  we  believed  in  the  words  of  Saint 
Procopius.  And  every  day  we  used  to  proceed  to  the  most 
loly  John,   the  archbishop,   and  had  the   fruition   of  his 


78 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


holy  words,  sweeter  than  honey  and  the  honey  comb.  And 
.-Vmantius,  the  chamberlain,  used  to  come  to  us,  sometimes 
bearing  messages  from  the  Empress,  at  other  times  merely 
to  pay  a  visit.  And  after  a  few  days,  the  Empress  brought 
forth  a  male  child,  and  he  was  called  Theodosius  after  his 
grandfather  Theodosius,  the  Spaniard,  who  reigned  along 
with  Gratian.  And  the  child  Theodosius  was  born  in  the 
purple  wherefore  he  was  proclaimed  emperor  at  his  birth. 
And  there  was  great  joy  in  the  city  and  men  were  sent  to  the 
cities  of  the  empire,  bearing  the  good  news,  with  gifts  and 
bounties. 

But  the  Empress,  who  had  only  just  been  delivered  and 
risen  from  her  bed  of  confinement,  sent  Amantius  to  us  with 
this  message,  "  I  thank  Christ  that  God  bestowed  on  me  a  son 
on  account  of  your  holy  prayers.  Pray,  then,  fathers,  for  his 
life  and  for  my  lowly  self,  in  order  that  I  may  fufill  those 
things  which  I  promised  you,  Christ  himself  consenting 
through  your  holy  prayers."  And  when  the  seven  days  of  her 
confinement  were  fulfilled,  she  sent  for  us  and  met  us  in  the 
door  of  her  chamber,  carrying  in  her  arms  the  infant  in  the 
purple  robe.  And  she  inclined  her  head  and  said,  "  Draw 
nigh,  fathers,  unto  me  and  the  child  which  the  Lord  granted 
to  me  through  your  prayers."  And  she  gave  them  the  child 
that  they  might  seal  it  with  God's  signet.  And  the  holy 
bishops  sealed  both  her  and  the  child  with  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  and  ofifering  a  prayer  sat  down.  And  when  they  had 
spoken  many  heart-felt  words,  the  lady  said  to  them,  "  Do 
you  know,  fathers,  what  I  resolved  to  do  in  regard  to  your 
atfair?"  If  Christ  permit,  the  child  will  be  privileged  to  re- 
ceive holy  baptism  in  a  few  days.  Depart  then  and  compose 
a  petition  and  insert  in  it  all  the  requests  you  wish  to  make. 
And  when  the  child  comes  forth  from  the  holy  baptismal 
rite,  give  the  petition  to  him  who  holds  the  child  in  his  arms ; 
but  I  shall  instruct  him  who  holds  the  child  what  to  do,  and 
I  trust  in  the  Son  of  God,  that  He  will  arrange  the  whole 
matter  according  to  His  loving  kindness."  Having  received 
these  directions  we  blessed  her  and  the  infant  and  went  out. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


79 


Then  we  composed  the  petition,  inserting  many  things  in  the 
document,  not  only  as  to  the  overthrow  of  the  idols,  but  also 
what  privileges  and  revenues  should  be  granted  to  holy 
church,  and  the  Christians;  for  holy  church  was  poor. 

The  days  ran  by,  and  the  day  on  which  the  young  Em- 
peror Theodosius  was  to  be  illuminated  (baptized)  arrived. 
And  all  the  city  was  crowned  with  garlands  and  decked  in 
garments  entirely  made  of  silk  and  gold  jewels  and  all  kind 
of  ornaments,  so  that  no  one  could  describe  the  ornaments 
of  the  city.  One  might  behold  the  inhabitants  multitudinous 
as  the  waves,  arrayed  in  all  manner  of  various  dresses.  But 
it  is  beyond  my  power  to  describe  the  brilliance  of  that  pomp ; 
it  is  a  task  for  those  who  are  practised  writers,  and  I  shall 
proceed  to  my  present  true  history.  When  the  young  Theo- 
dosius was  baptized  and  came  forth  from  the  church  to  the 
Palace,  you  might  behold  the  excellence  of  the  multitude  of 
the  magnates  and  their  dazzling  raiment,  for  all  were  dressed 
in  white  and  you  would  have  thought  the  multitude  was  cov- 
ered with  snow.  The  patricians  headed  the  procession,  with 
the  illustres  and  all  the  other  ranks  and  the  military  contin- 
gents, all  carrying  wax  candles,  so  that  the  stars  seemed  to 
shine  on  earth.  And  close  to  the  infant,  who  was  carried  in 
arms,  was  the  Emperor  Arcadius  himself,  his  face  being 
cheerful  and  more  radiant  than  the  purple  robe  he  wore.  And 
one  of  the  magnates  carried  the  infant  in  brilliant  apparel. 
And  we  marvelled  beholding  such  glory. 

Then  the  holy  Porphyrins  said  to  us,  "If  the  things  which 
soon  vanish  possess  such  glory,  how  much  more  glorious  are 
the  things  celestial,  prepared  for  the  elect,  which  neither  eye 
hath  beheld  nor  ear  heard,  nor  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart 
of  men  to  consider." 

And  we  stood  at  the  portals  of  the  church  with  our  written 
petition,  and  when  he  came  forth  from  the  baptism,  we 
called  out  aloud,  saying,  "  We  petition  your  Piety,''  and  held 
out  the  paper.  And  he  who  carried  the  child  seeing  this  and 
knowing  our  anxiety,  for  the  Empress  had  instructed  him, 
bade  the  paper  be  showed  to  him,  and  when  he  received  it, 


8o  POLITICS  AND  RELIGION  [3^4 

halted.  And  he  commanded  silence  and  unrolled  a  part  and 
read,  and  folding  it  up,  placed  his  hand  under  the  head  of  the 
child  and  cried  out,  "  His  majesty  has  ordered  the  requests 
contained  in  the  petition  to  be  ratified."  And  all  who  saw, 
marvelled  and  did  obeisance  to  the  Emperor,  congratulating 
him  that  he  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  his  son  an  emperor 
in  his  lifetime;  and  he  rejoiced  thereat.  And  that  which  had 
happened  for  the  sake  of  her  son  was  announced  to  the  Em- 
press, and  she  rejoiced  and  thanked  God  on  her  knees.  And 
when  the  child  entered  the  Palace,  she  met  it  and  received 
and  kissed  it,  and  holding  it  in  her  arms  greeted  the  Emperor, 
saying,  "  You  are  blessed,  my  lord,  for  the  things  which  your 
eyes  have  beheld  in  your  lifetime."  And  the  king  rejoiced 
thereat.  And  the  Empress  seeing  him  in  good  humor,  said, 
"  Please  let  us  learn  what  the  petition  contains  that  its  con- 
tents may  be  fulfilled."  And  the  Emperor  ordered  the  paper 
to  be  read,  and  when  it  was  read,  said,  "  The  request  is  hard, 
but  to  refuse  is  harder,  since  it  is  the  first  mandate  of  our 
son." 

The  petition  was  granted  and  Eudoxia  arranged  a  meeting 
between  the  quaester,  one  of  whose  offices  was  to  draft  the 
imperial  rescripts  and  the  bishops,  that  all  the  wishes  of  the 
latter  might  be  incorporated  in  the  edict.  The  execution  of  it 
which  was  invidious  and  required  a  strong  hand  and  will,  was 
intrusted  to  Cynegius,  and  the  bishops  returned  to  Palestine, 
having  received  considerable  sums  of  money  from  the  Em- 
press and  Emperor,  as  well  as  funds  which  the  Empress  had 
promised  for  the  erection  of  a  church  at  Gaza.^ 

The  supremacy  of  the  Arian-orthodox  coalition  was  of 
short  duration  for  a  counter-revolution  soon  restored  the 

'  Translation  by  Bury,  The  Later  Roman  Empire  (London,  1889), 
vol.  i,  pp.  199  et  seq.,  from  Marcus'  Life  of  Porphyry — printed  by 
Haupt  in  the  Ahhandlungen  of  the  Berlin  Academy  for  1879.  The 
translation  is  slightly  condensed  and  emended.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  18,  states  that  many  people  said  that  John  was  the 
father  of  Theodosius. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


8l 


pagan-orthodox  alliance.  In  July,  400,  Gainas  scenting 
danger  withdrew  from  Constantinople  and  the  inhabitants 
rose  and  slew  the  Gothic  soldiers.  Fraviatta,  of  the  pagan 
party,  was  sent  in  pursuit  of  Gainas  and  finally  overpow- 
ered him.  Shortly  after  this  victory  Aurelian  and  the 
other  Roman  hostages  escaped  and  returned  to  the  capital. 
Caesarius,  the  tool  of  Gainas,  was  deposed  and  imprisoned, 
and  Aurelian  was  restored  to  power.  Fraviatta  was  re- 
warded with  the  consulship  in  401. 

The  restoration  of  the  Roman  orthodox  party  virtu- 
ally settled  the  question  of  race  and  religion  in  the  East 
The  East  was  to  be  neither  Arian  nor  barbarian — nor  ulti- 
mately pagan,  for  the  temporary  alliance  of  the  orthodox 
with  the  pagan  was  another  case  of  the  lion  and  the  lamb — 
orthodoxy  soon  devoured  weakening  paganism. 

We  possess  as  a  solitary  example  evidence  as  to  what 
probably  happened  to  many  of  the  old  Romans.  Synesius 
of  Gyrene  (c.  365-413)  came  to  Constantinople^  while  the 
struggles  just  narrated  were  in  progress.  At  that  time  he 
was  a  pagan,  a  member  of  the  old  Roman  party.  He  was 
thrown  in  contact  and  alliance  with  the  orthodox.  He  tells 
that  he  even  frequented  their  churches.  When  the  strug- 
gle was  over  he  returned  to  Gyrene  and  there  became  a 
Catholic  bishop.  So  slight  was  the  change  necessary  for 
the  transfer  from  his  paganism  to  Catholicism  that  we 
search  in  vain  in  his  writings  to  detect  the  period  at  which 
it  occurred.  Of  an  old  pagan  family,  he  had  been  educated 
at  Alexandria  in  the  school  of  Hypatia,  that  famous  ex- 
ponent of  Neoplatonism.  And  as  a  Catholic  bishop  he  still 
preserved  his  friendship  for  Hypatia  and  his  Neo-pla- 
tonic  doctrines.    He  was  but  superficially  acquainted  with 


'  Seeck,  Philologus,  lii,  p.  442. 


82 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  Bible,  knew  nothing  of  ecclesiastical  canons,  and  was 
totally  ignorant  of  church  tradition  or  the  fathers.  In  his 
letter  to  discuss  his  election  as  bishop  he  says :  ^ 

I  am  married ;  God  and  the  law  and  the  sacred  hand  of  The- 
ophilus  gave  me  my  wife  and  I  do  not  wish  to  part  with  her. 
.  .  .  Further,  philosophy  is  opposed  to  many  current  dogmas: 
I  do  not  think  that  the  soul  is  made  after  the  body;  nor  that 
the  world  and  all  its  parts  will  be  destroyed;  the  resurrection 
as  preached  I  count  only  an  allegory  and  a  sacred  mystery 
but  am  far  from  accepting  the  general  idea.  ...  I  shall  be 
sorry  to  give  up  sports,  but  I  will. 

It  was  necessary  for  Theophilus  to  confirm  this  choice  and 
a  Cyrenan  delegation  to  Alexandria  secured  this.  As 
Chateaubriand  remarks,^  On  lui  laisse  sa  femme  et  ses  opin- 
ions, et  on  le  fit  eveque  .  .  .  on  lui  laisse  sa  philosophic  et 
il  resta  a  Ptolemaide. 

Synesius  preserved  an  old-time  pagan  prejudice  against 
monks  while  proving  himself  quite  orthodox  in  his  an- 
tipathy to  heretics.  In  writing  to  Hypatia,  he  complains  of 
the  criticisms  of  the  men  in  white  and  the  men  in  black, 
philosophers  and  monks.    He  then  describes  the  latter :  ^ 

Ignorance  gives  them  courage  and  they  are  everlastingly 
ready  to  debate  about  God.  Give  them  a  chance  and  they 
start  their  illogical  syllogisms  and  you  are  deluged  with  a 
flood  of  uselss  words.  It  pays,  for  from  their  ranks  come  the 
city  preachers  and  to  be  that  is  to  hold  Amaltheias  (cornu- 
copia) horn.  .  .  .  They  want  me  to  be  their  disciple  and 
promise  to  make  me  in  a  twinkling  a  ready  talker  on  all  things 
of  God  and  to  be  able  to  harangue  days  and  nights  together. 

As  to  Eunomians  he  says,''  "  Take  care  that  these  bastard 

'  Synesius,  Opera,  M.  P.  G.  (Paris,  1859),  vol.  Ixvi ;  Ep.  no. 
"  Etudes  historiques,  3. 

3  Synesius,  op.  cit.,  Ep.,  63.  ♦  Ibid.,  141. 


RELIGIOUS  CONFLICT  IN  THE  EAST 


83 


priests,  these  newly  arrived  apostles  of  the  devil  and  of 
Ouintianus,  do  not,  without  your  notice,  leap  on  the  flock 
which  you  tend." 

With  the  establishment  of  Roman  and  orthodox  suprem- 
acy in  the  East  there  remained  but  one  question  unsolved, 
the  relation  of  state  and  church.  That  was  soon  settled  by 
the  fall  of  Chrysostom.  \\''hen  there  were  no  longer  inter- 
nal enemies  to  overcome,  his  great  moral  power  was  no 
longer  of  service  to  the  Empress  Eudoxia.  who  was  then 
the  real  ruler  of  the  East.  His  position  soon  became  intol- 
erable both  to  the  Empress  and  to  his  own  fellow  bishops ; 
and  these  enemies  taking  advantage  of  his  tolerance  toward 
the  Origenists  caused  him  to  be  deposed  and  banished 
(404).  With  the  fall  of  Chrysostom  the  church  of  the 
East  took  the  position  it  was  thereafter  to  hold  as  a  power 
inferior  to  and  dependent  upon  the  civil  authorities. 


CHAPTER  III 


The  Revolt  of  Gildo 

While  in  the  East  and  West  officials  were  taking  ad- 
vantage of  racial  or  religious  differences  in  a  strife  for 
power,  in  Africa  the  struggle  was  almost  purely  religious. 
For  this  reason  we  may  study  that  situation  more  easily 
and  with  greater  confidence  than  the  complicated  and  ob- 
scure history  which  we  have  just  outlined.  For  not  only 
does  the  absence  of  the  race  question  in  Africa  simplify 
our  problem,  but  the  sources  for  the  African  struggle  be- 
tween religions  and  creeds  are  much  fuller  and  more  ex- 
plicit. There  are  the  laws  of  the  emperors  and  the  acts  of 
the  church  councils,  but  of  even  greater  importance  we 
have  the  voluminous  writings  of  Augustine.  The  African 
religious  situation  revolved  around  him,  and  he  has  left  us 
the  means  by  which  to  trace  in  detail  the  development  of 
his  policy.  Indeed,  in  his  strife  with  the  pagans  and 
heretics  were  matured  politics  which  supplanted  the  toler- 
ance of  Stilicho  by  a  sectarianism  even  more  narrow  than 
that  associated  with  the  names  of  Rufinus  or  Eutropius. 
For  Augustine,  comprehensive  as  was  the  sweep  of  his  in- 
tellect, had  not  the  unclouded  vision  and  universal  outlook 
of  the  old  Greek  philosophers,  with  whom  he  is  frequently 
compared.  He  was  a  defender  of  the  faith  as  well  as  its 
constructive  architect.  As  bishop  and  controversialist  he 
was  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  and  it  was  from  this  double 
standpoint  that  he  became  such  a  decisive  figure  in  the 
formulation  of  Christian  practices  of  intolerance.  For  it 
was  Augustine  who  crystallized  for  later  centuries  those 
84 


THE  REVOLT  Of  GILDO  85 

theories  which  were  to  be  cited  as  a  justification  of  the 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  or  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes. 

Yet,  while  our  sources  are  rich,  we  must  be  on  our 
guard;  for  the  leader  in  such  a  cause,  large  as  may  have 
been  his  outlook,  was  biased  in  writings  as  in  action.  His 
defence  of  his  cause  warped  his  judgment  upon  men  and 
things  just  as  it  would  that  of  lesser  men.  The  authority 
which  his  name  carries  with  it  must,  therefore,  not  mislead 
us  as  we  turn  to  reconstruct,  mainly  from  his  own  writ- 
ings, the  situation  which  called  them  forth. 

There  were  naturally  two  antagonists  to  be  crushed  to 
ensure  the  triumph  of  orthodox  Christianity — paganism 
and  heresy — and  Augustine's  energies  were  directed  against 
both.  Paganism  he  fought  from  the  opening  of  his  African 
career,  and  it  continued  to  occupy  a  large  part  of  his  at- 
tention for  the  rest  of  his  life.  At  first,  his  opposition  to 
paganism  was  hardly  more  than  an  endeavor  to  prevent 
its  practices  from  corrupting  members  of  the  orthodox 
church.  This  changed,  however,  with  the  overthrow  of 
the  pagan  Count  Gildo  in  398,  to  positive  action :  the  bishop 
and  his  party  taking  the  offensive  and  demanding  the  de- 
struction of  temples,  statues  and  sanctuaries.  Finally, 
when  with  the  triumph  of  orthodoxy  at  the  fall  of  Stili- 
cho  in  408,  the  destruction  of  the  outward  marks  of  pagan- 
ism was  turned  over  to  the  civil  magistrates,  Augustine's 
party  directed  their  efforts  to  the  eradication  of  pagan  be- 
liefs. The  cults  were  crushed  by  Augustine  the  ecclesias- 
tic by  politics  and  direct  action;  the  mythology  was  as- 
sailed by  Augustine  the  theologian  and  philosopher.  For 
it  was  this  last  phase  of  the  struggle,  a  literary  one,  which 
produced  Augustine's  magnum  opus.  The  City  of  God.* 


*  Begun  in  413 :  completed  in  426. 


86 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


As  for  heresies,  the  Donatists,  the  strongest  sect  m 
Africa,  were  the  first  to  engage  Augustine.  But  as  their 
strength  was  largely  dependent  on  their  alliance  with  the 
pagans,  the  character  of  Augustine's  relations  with  them 
very  nearly  paralleled  that  of  his  attitude  toward  the 
pagans;  and  follows  in  general  the  same  stages  of  develop- 
ment. His  treatment  of  the  Manichaeans,  on  the  other 
hand,  developed  no  new  policies,  in  spite  of  their  strength 
in  Africa  at  this  time.  Augustine's  attitude  of  toleration 
for  this  party  was  doubtless  due  to  the  fact  that  earlier  in 
his  career  he  had  been  one  of  its  members.  The  conflict 
over  Pelagianism  arose  after  the  pagan  and  Donatist  issues 
had  been  practically  settled,  and  this  explains  Augustine's 
attitude  toward  them.  It  was  the  logical  development  of 
his  earlier  successes.  Triumphant  both  in  theory  and  prac- 
tices, he  imposes  his  will  on  the  Universal  Church.^ 

We  shall  now  trace  in  detail  the  development  of  the  con- 
flicts just  outlined.  In  395,  paganism  still  flourished  in 
Africa.  Powerful  in  many  parts,"  in  some  it  even  pre- 
dominated.^ Until  the  overthrow  of  Gildo  the  rulers  of 
the  province  were  usually  of  the  pagan  party.*  These 
officials  worked  in  the  closest  harmony  with  the  hereti- 
cal Donatists,®  and  the  orthodox  were  placed  in  a  position 
of  relative  subordination.  The  African  pagans  lived  in 
peace;  no  laws  had  been  passed  directly  against  them  and 

•  Late  in  his  life  Augustine  was  forced  into  a  conflict  with  Arianism ; 
but  his  death  and  the  triumph  of  the  Arians  lessen  the  importance  of 
this  struggle  for  our  study. 

2  Carthage,  Aug.,  Serin.,  12,  and  Arzuges,  Aug.,  Ef.,  46. 
'  Calama,  Aug.,  Eff.  90,  91;  Sitifis,  Aug.,  Serni.,  19.  6;  Suffectum, 
Aug.,  Ep.  so;  and  Madaura,  Aug.,  £/>.  232. 

*  Amongst  such  officials  we  notice :  Probinus,  Proculus,  Olybrius, 
Probianus,  Flavian,  Symmachus,  Hesperius  and  Apollodorius. 

■■  Aug.,  Contra  litteras  Petiliani,  ii,  208,  184. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


87 


as  is  shown  by  the  acts  of  the  councils  and  Augustine's 
letters,  there  existed  very  close  social  and  business  relations 
between  them  and  the  orthodox. 

This  state  of  affairs  placed  Christianity  in  danger  of 
being  corrupted  by  pagan  practices  and  gave  great  con- 
cern to  the  heads  of  the  church  in  Africa.  The  acts  of 
the  African  synods,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  mirror 
the  situation  in  detail,  and  in  their  insistsmt  repetition  em- 
phasize the  importance  of  the  question  as  they  faced  it. 

In  393,  Aurelius,  bishop  of  Carthage,  called  the  first  of 
his  celebrated  series  of  African  Councils,  the  Council  of 
Hippo.*  Possidius,  bishop  of  Calama,  in  his  Life  of  Au- 
gustine, tells  us  ^  that  it  was  a  plenarium  totiiis  Africae 
concilium."  Aurelius  presided  and  Augustine  was  pres- 
ent. The  Council  was  concerned  chiefly  with  matters  of 
discipline  and  one  of  the  chief  of  these  was  the  regulation 
of  the  relations  of  Christianity  to  paganism.  It  adopted 
the  following  canons  on  the  subject:  (Can.  15)  Sons  of 
bishops  ought  not  to  give  games  or  assist  thereat.  (Can. 
16)  The  sons  of  bishops  and  those  of  the  clergy  in  general 
ought  not  to  marry  pagans,  heretics  or  schismatics.^ 
(Can.  18)  Bishops  or  clerics  should  not  choose  as  heirs  any 
non-Catholic,  even  though  it  be  a  relative.  (Can.  21)  No 
one  should  be  ordained  as  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon  before 
he  shall  have  converted  to  Catholicism  all  the  members  of 
his  household.  (Can.  33)  Bishops  and  clerics  ought  not  to 
celebrate  banquets  in  the  church  unless  compelled  by  the 
law  of  hospitality.    The  people  should  be  excluded  from 

'  Hefele,  Histoire  des  ConcUes  (Paris,  1908),  ii,  i,  82,  97;  Mansi, 
Sacrorum  Conciliorum  Collectio  (Florence  and  Venice,  1759-98),  iii, 
932,  30;  Harduin,  Conciliorum  Collectio  (Paris,  1715),  i,  953. 

'  Possid.,  Vita  Augustiui,  c.  vii. 

'  This  was  rather  a  common  practice,  as  we  learn  from  Jerome,  Ep., 
108,  4;  107,  i;  and  Aug.,  Ep.,  33,  5. 


88 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


such  banquets  whenever  it  is  possible.  (Can.  40)  Under 
the  title  of  Divine  Scriptures  one  ought  not  to  read  in  the 
church  anything  save  the  canonical  writings. 

The  practices  here  denounced  do  not  seem,  however,  to 
have  ceased.  For  these  acts  were  reaffirmed  four  years  later 
by  the  third  council  of  Carthage,^  on  the  twenty-eighth 
of  August.  397,  and  four  years  later,  the  fifth  Council  of 
Carthage,  which  met  on  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  of 
June,  401,  complained  of  a  continuance  of  the  practices. 
In  canon  60,  it  was  stated  that  contrary  to  law  banquets 
were  being  accompanied  by  pagan  practices  and  Christians 
were  being  forced  by  the  pagans  to  attend  them,  and  the 
emperors  were  besought  to  interfere.  In  canon  61  another 
request  was  made  of  the  emperors  to  prohibit  spectacles 
at  the  theatres  and  other  games  from  being  given  on  church 
days.^ 

The  sixth  council  of  Carthage,  which  met  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  September^  in  the  same  year  (401),  asked  the 
emperors  in  conjunction  with  the  bishops  to  name  defend- 
ers, defensores,  for  the  church  (Can.  75)  ;  and  (Can.  81) 
reaffirmed,  under  penalty  of  anathema  which  should  extend 
even  after  death,  the  command  that  bishops  should  not 
choose  pagan  or  heretical  relatives  as  heirs  and  that  they 
should  take  opportune  measures  to  prevent  such  relatives 
from  inheriting.  The  legislation  of  these  early  African 
church  councils  is  summarized  in  a  document,  the  Statnta 
Ecclesiae  Antiqua,  once  given  as  the  acts  of  the  fourth 
council  of  Carthage,  but,  according  to  Hefele,  now  con- 
ceded to  be  a  collection  made  from  the  acts  of  many  ancient 

'Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  100-102;  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iii,  733;  Harduin,  op. 
cit.,  i,  882. 

2  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  126.    Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  898. 
'Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  903  et  seq.;  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iii,  770;  Hefele,  op. 
cit.,  ii,  I,  125-129. 


THE  REVOLT  Ot^  GILDO 


89 


councils,  Oriental  as  well  as  African,  at  some  time  before 
the  end  of  the  sixth  century.  It  is  of  interest,  however, 
to  quote  the  following  canons:  ^  (Can.  16)  A  bishop  shall 
read  no  pagan  books  and  those  of  heretics  only  when  nec- 
essary. (Can.  47)  A  cleric  ought  not  to  go  on  the  streets 
or  in  public  places  unless  necessary.  (Can.  88)  Whoever 
absents  himself  from  services  on  a  feast  day  and  goes  to 
a  theatre  ought  to  be  excommunicated.  (Can.  89)  Who- 
ever passes  his  time  with  augurs  or  occupies  himself  with 
incantations  ought  to  be  excluded  from  the  church;  also 
those  who  participate  in  Jewish  superstitions  or  celebrate 
pagan  holidays.  (Can.  84)  Let  no  bishop  forbid  anyone^ 
be  he  pagan,  heretic  or  Jew,  from  entering  the  church  and 
hearing  the  word  of  God  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  mass 
of  the  catechumen. 

The  danger  of  corruption  from  pagan  customs  was  a  real 
one.  The  enemies  of  the  church  recognized  that  this  was 
taking  place,  and  used  it  as  an  argument  against  the  ortho- 
dox. The  Manichaean,  Faustus,  asserted  to  Augustine  that 
the  orthodox  -  retained  the  manners  of  the  gentiles.  Au- 
gustine knew  this  and  worked  against  it.  We  have  his  ac- 
count ^  of  how  he  combated  the  pagan  practices  of  the 
Laetitia,  which  had  crept  into  the  church.  He  describes 
its  origin : 

Some  were  becoming  openly  violent,  declaring  that  they  could 
not  submit  to  the  prohibition  of  that  feast  day  which  they 
call  Laetitia,  ...  a  feast,  disgraced  by  intemperance  in  their 
temple.  I  explained  to  them  the  circumstances  out  of  which 
this  custom  seems  to  have  necessarily  arisen  in  the  Church  .  .  . 
namely,  that  when,  in  the  peace  which  came  after  numerous 

'  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  975-986;  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  ii,  1196-1214;  Hefele, 
op.  cit.,  ii,  I,  102-120. 

2  Aug.,  Contra  Faustunt  Manichaeum,  xx,  23. 
■•'Aug.,  Ep.,  29  (395)  to  Alypius. 


90 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


and  violent  persecutions,  crowds  of  heathen  who  wished  to 
assume  the  Christian  rehgion  were  kept  back,  because,  having 
been  accustomed  to  celebrate  the  feasts  connected  with  their 
worship  of  idols  in  revelling  and  drunkenness,  they  could  not 
easily  refrain  from  pleasures  so  hurtful  and  so  habitual,  it  had 
seemed  good  to  our  ancestors,  making  for  a  time  a  concession 
to  this  infirmity,  to  permit  them  to  celebrate,  instead  of  the 
festivals  which  they  renounced,  other  feasts  in  honor  of  the 
holy  martyrs,  which  were  observed  not  as  before  with  a  pro- 
fane design,  but  with  similar  self-indulgence. 

He  showed  that  it  was  not  a  universal  practice :  speak- 
ing of : 

Churches  beyond  the  sea,  in  some  of  which  these  practices 
have  never  been  tolerated,  while  in  others  they  have  already 
been  put  down  by  the  people,  complying  with  the  counsel  of 
good  ecclesiastical  rulers ;  and  as  the  examples  of  daily  ex- 
cesses in  the  use  of  wine  in  the  church  of  the  blessed  Apostle 
Peter  were  brought  forward  in  defence  of  the  practice,  I  said 
in  the  first  place,  that  I  had  heard  that  these  excesses  had 
been  forbidden,  but  because  in  such  a  city  the  multitude  of 
carnally-minded  men  was  great,  the  foreigners  especially, — of 
whom  there  is  a  constant  influx, — clinging  to  that  practice  with 
an  obstinacy  proportioned  to  their  ignorance,  the  suppression 
of  so  great  an  evil  had  not  been  possible  as  yet. 

In  one  of  his  sermons  he  complained  ^  of  those  Chris- 
tians of  Carthage  who  "  sit  down  with  false  gods  "  under 
the  pretense  that  they  are  merely  assisting  in  a  feast  to  the 
tutelary  genius  of  Carthage.  "  It  is  no  God  you  will  say; 
because  it  is  the  tutelary  genius  of  Carthage,  (Coelestis.^) 

*  Aug.,  Serm.,  xii,  lo. 

'  Cf.  Salvian,  De  Guhernatione  Dei,  viii,  5,  for  his  wrath  at  Coelestis 
about  fifty  years  later.  For  cult,  see  G.  Boissier,  Rev.  des  Deux 
Mondes,  Jan.,  1895.    Also  De  Praedictionibus,  iii,  38;  cf.  infra,  p.  106. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


91 


Do  not  be  afraid  of  the  threats  of  the  ungodly  ...  In  an 
idol's  temple  He  forbids  it  (submitting  to  allegiance)." 
.  .  .  "They  threaten  a  prison;  He  threatens  Hell."  .  .  . 
"  A  man  has  yielded  to  threats  and  been  led  away  to  the 
idol's  temples,  ...  be  not  afraid  of  the  threats  of  the  un- 
godly." 

On  St.  John's  day  Christians  were  wont  to  plunge  into 
the  sea  for  purification,  .\ugustine  showed  his  disapproval 
of  such  a  pagan  practice  by  absenting  himself  from  it.^ 

In  the  letters  which  Augustine  exchanged  with  Publi- 
cola  ^  we  can  get  a  good  insight  into  the  daily  relations  be- 
tween pagan  and  Christian.    Publicola  writes : 

In  the  country-  of  the  Arzuges  it  is  customary,  as  I  have  heard, 
for  the  barbarians  to  take  an  oath,  swearing  by  their  false  gods, 
in  the  presence  of  the  decurion  stationed  on  the  frontier,  or 
of  the  tribune,  when  they  have  come  under  an  engagement  to 
carry  baggage  to  any  part  or  to  protect  the  crops  from  depre- 
dation; and  when  the  decurion  certifies  in  writing  that  this 
oath  has  been  taken,  the  owners  or  farmers  of  the  land  employ 
them  as  watchmen  of  their  crops,  or  travelers,  who  have  occa- 
sion to  pass  through  their  country,  hire  them  as  if  assured  of 
their  now  being  trustworthy.  Now  a  doubt  has  arisen  in  my 
mind  whether  the  landlord  who  thus  employs  a  barbarian  of 
whose  fidelity  he  is  persuaded,  in  consequence  of  such  an  oath, 
does  not  make  himself  and  the  crop  committed  to  that  man's 
charge  to  share  the  defilement  of  that  sinful  oath,  and  so  with 
the  traveler  who  may  employ  his  services.  I  should  mention, 
however,  that  in  both  cases  the  barbarian  is  rewarded  for  his 
services  with  money.  Nevertheless,  in  both  transactions  there 
comes  in,  besides  the  pecuniary  remuneration,  this  oath  before 
the  decurion  or  tribune,  involving  mortal  sin.  I  am  concerned 
as  to  whether  this  sin  does  not  defile  either  him  who  accepts 

^Aug.,  Serm.,  196  (Migne). 
2  Aug..  Epp.,  46,  47  (398). 


92 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  oath  of  the  barbarian  or  at  least  the  things  which  are  com- 
mitted to  the  barbarian's  keeping.  .  .  . 

I  have  also  heard  that  my  own  land-stewards  receive  from 
the  barbarians  hired  to  protect  the  crops  an  oath  in  which  they 
appeal  to  their  false  gods.  Does  not  this  oath  defile  these 
crops  that  if  a  Christian  uses  them  or  takes  the  money  realized 
from  their  sale,  he  is  himself  defiled  ? 

...  Is  it  lawful  for  a  Christian  to  use  wheat  or  beans 
from  the  threshinij-floor,  or  wine  or  oil  from  the  press,  if,  with 
his  knowledge,  some  part  of  what  has  been  taken  thence  was 
offered  in  sacrifice  to  a  false  god  ?  [The  letter  goes  on  to  in- 
quire about  wood  from  an  idol's  grove ;  meat  offered  to  idols ; 
drinking  from  a  fountain  into  which  anything  from  a  sacrifice 
has  been  cast ;  baths  used  by  pagans ;  sedan  chairs  used  by 
pagans ;  vegetables  or  fruit  from  the  garden  of  a  temple  or 
priest  of  an  idol.] 

Augustine  replies  to  these  questions  of  Publicola,  after 
having  assured  him  that  it  is  not  so  great  a  sin  to  swear 
falsely  by  false  gods  as  by  the  true  one: 

If  we  answer  this  in  the  negative,  I  know  not  whether  we 
could  Hve.  For,  not  only  on  the  frontier,  but  throughout  the 
provinces,  the  security  of  peace  rests  on  the  oaths  of  barbar- 
ians. ...  As  we  have  no  scruples  as  to  air  from  the  smoke 
of  altars  and  incense  from  idols,  ...  so  also  with  meats, 
wood,  etc.  .  .  .  The  case  you  mention  of  a  Christian  on  a 
journey  overcome  by  the  extremity  of  hunger;  whether,  if  he 
could  find  nothing  to  eat  but  meat  placed  in  an  idol's  temple, 
and  there  was  no  man  near  to  relieve  him,  it  would  be  better 
for  him  to  die  of  starvation  than  to  take  that  food  for  his 
nourishment?  Since  in  this  question  it  is  not  assumed  that  the 
food  thus  found  was  offered  to  the  idols;  for  it  might  have 
been  left  by  mistake  or  designedly  by  persons  who,  on  a  jour- 
ney, had  turned  aside  to  take  refreshments;  or  it  might  have 
been  put  there  for  some  other  purpose,  I  answer  briefly  thus: 
It  is  certain  either  that  the  food  was  offered  to  idols  or  that  it 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


93 


was  not,  or  else  we  know  nothing  about  it.  If  the  food  was 
offered,  it  would  be  better  to  reject  it  with  a  Christian  forti- 
tude. In  either  of  the  other  alternatives  it  might  be  used  in 
case  of  necessity  without  any  conscientious  scruple. 

His  letters  to  Paul  ^  show  his  desire  to  secure  an  argu- 
mentative literature  for  use  against  the  pagans,  who  were 
causing  "  most  prolix  debates."  And  we  have  Augustine's 
account  of  his  debate  with  the  old  grammarian  Maximus 
of  Madaura,-  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  ancient  gods.  At 
this  period  Christianity  as  an  opponent  of  paganism  was 
clearly  on  the  defensive. 

But  the  danger  threatening  orthodox  Christianity  from 
paganism  was  relatively  insignificant  when  compared  with 
the  Donatist  peril.  At  this  time  the  Donatists  were  so 
strong  that  they  were  usurping  the  privileges  of  the  church. 
And  inasmuch  as  they  held  the  orthodox  cult,  the  laws  of 
the  emperors  were  not  applicable  against  them,  at  least  not 
directly.  They  were  not  branded  as  heretics  until  405.* 
And  until  398  the  orthodox  party  was  so  comparatively 
weak  that  it  was  unable  to  secure  the  application  to  the 
Donatists  of  the  general  edicts ;  while  on  the  other  hand, 
the  strength  of  the  latter  enabled  them  to  enforce  the  pen- 
alties of  the  general  edicts  against  their  schismatics,*  es- 
pecially the  Maximianists.  And  so  the  orthodox  were 
forced  to  the  extremity  of  citing  their  enemies  before  the 
vicar.^    Their  strength  was  further  augmented  by  means 

1  Aug.,  £/>/>.,  31,  8  (396)  ;  42  (397). 
^Ibid.,  16,  17. 

3  Corf.  Theod.,  xvi,  6,  4;  xvi,  11,  2;  xvi,  6,  5;  xvi,  5,  38. 

*  Augustine,  Bp.,  44,  7;  Contra  Cresconium  grammaticum,  iii,  59,  65; 
iv,  I,  i;  3,  3;  46,  55;  Enarrationes  in  Psalinos,  2.  This  schism  devel- 
oped when  the  deacon  Maximian  of  Carthage  broke  away  from  the 
regular  Donatist  church  under  its  leader  Primian. 

5  Aug.,  £/>.,  87,  8;  Contr.  Litt.  Pet.,  ii,  84,  184;  58,  132. 


94 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


of  an  efficient  instrument  which  they  possessed  in  their 
bancls  of  fanatic  circumcelliones  ^  for  overpowering  or 
terrorizing  adversaries. 

The  relative  power  of  the  two  parties  was  greatly  af- 
fected by  a  change  of  leaders  in  391-2.  For  the  orthodox 
Augustine  was  ordained  priest  at  Hippo,  and  Aurelius  suc- 
ceeded Genethlius  at  Carthage.  While  Genethlius  had  been 
of  so  mild  a  disposition  that  he  would  quarrel  with  no  one, 
his  successor,  Aurelius,  as  well  as  Augustine,  was  of  the 
fighting  type.  In  the  Donatist  camp,  the  very  successful 
leader  Parmenian  was  replaced  by  Primian,  who  soon  had 
on  his  hands  a  schism  of  his  own,  that  of  the  Maximian- 
ists.^  The  zeal  of  the  new  and  energetic  leaders  of  the 
orthodox  at  first  was  limited  to  persuasion  and  propaganda, 
as  is  shown  in  the  Acts  of  the  Councils  and  Augustine's 
writings. 

The  council  of  Hippo,  whose  canons  against  paganism  we 
have  already  mentioned,"  enacted  canons  relative  to  heresy 
and  schism.  Sons  of  bishops  or  clerics  were  not  to  marry 
heretics  or  schismatics  (Canon  16).  Orthodox  bishops 
and  clerics  were  not  to  leave  their  property  to  non-Cath- 
olics (Canon  18),  and  the  former  prescription  of  the  coun- 
cils, according  to  which  Donatist  clerics  were  to  be  received 
into  the  church  only  as  laics,  should  conserve  its  force  ex- 
cept for  those  who  had  never  rebaptized  or  who  should 
have  re-entered  the  church  with  their  whole  parish.  (Such 
ones  might  retain  their  ecclesiastical  dignities.)  They 
might  do  this  if  Rome  agreed.  Rome  also  was  to  be  con- 
sulted as  to  whether  infants  baptized  should  be  received  at 
the  altar  (Canon  41). 

^  The  circumcelliones  were  pillagers  who  traversed  the  country,  burn- 
ing and  plundering.  They  included  escaped  slaves,  coloni,  and  even 
oppressed  curials.    In  fact,  they  represented  a  social  revolt. 

2  Aug.,  Ep.,  43,  9,  26;  Contr.  Cresc,  iv,  6,  7. 

^  Supra,  p.  87. 


THE  REVOLT  OP  GILDO 


95 


The  Statuta  Ecdesiae  Antiqna^  states:  That  a  cleric 
should  avoid  dinners  and  the  company  of  heretics  and 
schismatics  (Canon  70) ;  that  the  reunions  of  heretics 
ought  not  to  be  called  churches  but  rather  conventicles 
(Canon  71)  ;  that  no  one  ought  to  pray  or  chant  psalms 
with  heretics  (Canon  72)  ;  that  bishops  should  forbid  no 
one.  be  he  pagan,  heretic,  or  Jew,  from  hearing  the  word 
of  God  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  mass  of  the  catechumens 
(Canon  84)  ;  that  if  a  Catholic  should  take  a  case  of  his 
own  before  a  heretical  tribunal  or  judge  he  should  be  ex- 
communicated (Canon  87)  ;  and  that  before  every  tribunal 
the  conduct  and  religion  both  of  the  accused  and  of  the 
complainant  ought  to  be  investigated  (Canon  96). 

In  this  situation  Augustine  tried  to  secure  literature 
from  Jerome  '  against  the  heretics.  He  complained  to  the 
authorities  and  asked  for  an  investigation  regarding  re- 
baptisms.^  His  activities  were  so  pronounced  as  to  incite 
an  attempt  on  his  life.* 

But  his  chief  efforts  were  directed  toward  the  conversion 
of  the  Donatists  through  the  medium  of  conferences.  He 
asked  for  a  conference  with  Proculian,  the  Donatist  bishop 
of  Hippo.'^  His  request  was  most  humbly  stated.  He  ad- 
dressed Proculian  as  "  Domimis  honorabilis  et  delecHs- 
simiis,"  and  allowed  to  him  the  entire  choice  as  to  whether 
the  conference  be  public  or  private,  or  the  mere  exchange 
of  letters.  But  Proculian  disdainfully  would  not  debate. 
Powerful  as  were  the  efforts  of  Aurelius  and  Augustine 
for  the  conversion  of  their  opponents,  results  would  nec- 

1  Srtpra,  p.  88. 

2  Aug.,  Ep.,  40,  9. 
'  Aug.,  Epp.,  34.  35- 

*Possid.,  Vita  Aug.,  10  and  13  ;  Aug.,  Ep.,  35,  4;  Enchiridion,  17. 
•Aug.,  Epp.,  33,  34.  35  (396  A.  D.). 


96 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


essarily  have  been  slow  in  arriving  had  it  not  been  for  a 
strategic  misstep  on  the  part  of  their  opponents. 

The  event  of  first  instance  in  deciding  the  final  triumph 
of  orthodoxy  was  the  revolt  of  Gildo  in  397-8.  Ordi- 
narily historians  treat  of  this  rebellion  as  being  solely  the 
result  of  a  political  agreement  between  the  leaders  in  Africa 
and  the  East,  namely,  Gildo  and  Eutropius.  In  reality  it 
was  far  more  than  a  political  disturbance :  it  was  based  on 
the  religious  differences  of  Africa;  it  was  a  part  of  the  con- 
flict between  religions  and  creeds.  It  was  the  already  ex- 
isting struggle  between  the  pagan-Donatist  and  the  ortho- 
dox parties  that  afforded  the  opportunity  for  Eutropius 
and  Gildo.  Then  Stilicho  in  order  to  maintain  Roman  su- 
premacy found  it  to  his  advantage  to  take  sides  with  the 
orthodox,  and  this  increase  of  strength  afforded  the  im- 
petus which  started  orthodoxy  on  its  way  to  supremacy. 
The  eventual  victory  of  the  orthodox  was  thus  due  indi- 
rectly to  the  alliance  of  Gildo  with  Eutropius  and  directly 
to  the  aid  of  the  tolerant  Stilicho. 

Gildo  was  count  of  Africa.^  His  ambition  to  secure 
greater  independence  for  himself  led  him  to  enter  into 
negotiations  with  Eutropius  for  the  transfer  of  Africa 
to  the  dominion  of  Arcadius.^  Gildo  received  his  chief 
support  from  the  pagan-Donatist  party;  himself  a  pagan, 
he  had  as  chief  satellite  and  councillor  Optatus,  the 
Donatist  bishop  of  Thamugadi,  often  spoken  of  as  Opta- 
tus Gildonianus.*  As  has  been  mentioned  above,*  his 
support  of  the  Donatists  was  won  by  the  policy  of  protect- 

*  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  36;  Marcellin,  Chron. 

2  Claudian,  In.  Eut.,  i,  399-4io;  De  Bell.  Gild.,  235,  245;  In  St.,  i,  270- 
295;  Zos.,  V,  II. 

3' Aug.,  Contr.  Litt.  Pet.,  ii,  23;  De  Baptismo,  ii,  16. 

*  Supra,  p.  86. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO  97 

ing  them  with  the  troops  of  the  province.  Africa  being 
the  granary  for  Rome/  it  was  more  than  a  rehgious  motive 
which  caused  StiHcho  to  act  and  act  immediately.  The 
Senate  was  called  to  consider  the  situation;  Gildo  was  de- 
clared a  public  enemy,'  and  an  expedition  was  fitted  out  to 
proceed  against  him.  Here  Stilicho  showed  his  grasp  of 
the  religious  situation.  He  did  not  deem  it  necessary  to 
prepare  a  large  army.  What  he  did,  was  so  to  organize 
the  expedition  as  to  profit  by  the  religious  discontent  in 
Africa.  He  gave  the  command  to  Mascezel,  a  brother  of 
Gildo.*  who  was  an  orthodox  Christian.  Then  Mascezel. 
having  sailed  from  Pisa  *  with  a  small  army,  stopped  at 
the  Island  of  Capraria,  in  order  to  recruit  a  religious  force. 
The  pagan  poet  Rutillus  Namatianus  tells  us  ^  that  Capra- 
ria was  given  over  to  the  monks.  Orosius  shows  that  these 
monks  played  an  important  part  in  the  campaign :  "  Mas- 
cezel went  to  the  Island  of  Capraria  from  whence  he  took 
with  him  saintly  servants  of  God,  won  by  his  prayers,  con- 
tinuing with  these,  haranguing,  fasting  and  singing  psalms 
day  and  night,  he  won  a  victory  without  a  battle  and  ven- 
geance without  slaughter."  Petilian,  the  Donatist  bishop 
of  Africa,  later  accused  Augustine  of  introducing  monks 
into  Africa.'  Apparently  Augustine  stimulated  the  monks 
to  come  to  his  rescue.    We  have  an  interesting  letter  from 

^  Claudian,  de  Cons.  St.,  i,  270-280. 

2  Claudian,  i,  Cons.  St.,  i,  325 ;  Bell.  Gild.,  380  et  seq. 

'  Orosius,  op.  fit.,  vii,  36. 

*  Claudian,  de  Bell.  Gild.,  483-504. 

*  Rutillius  Namatianus,  op.  cit.,  i,  439-448. 

*  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  36. 

'  Aug.,  Contr.  Lift.  Pet.,  iii,  48.  Ferrere,  La  situation  religieuse,  p. 
4,  believes  this  testimony  without  value  because  the  monks  came  with 
Mascezel;  cf.  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  cc.  5-1 1. 


98 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Augustine  to  these  monks/  In  this  he  tells  of  the  grievous 
position  in  which  he  is  placed,  complains  that  his  burden 
is  so  heavy  that  he  can  scarcely  bear  it,  and  then  exhorts 
the  brothers  as  follows:  "if  the  Church  our  Mother  de- 
mands active  service,  guard  both  against  a  too  sharp  or 
impatient  ardor  and  against  the  solicitations  of  a  too  great 
love  of  repose  but  obey  humbly  and  submit  to  God  who 
governs  you.  ...  Do  not  prefer  repose  to  the  necessities 
of  the  church." 

Mascezel,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  religious  forces, 
won  a  complete  victory.^  The  pagan-Donatist  party  was 
completely  overthrown.  Gildo  either  was  slain  ^  or  com- 
mitted suicide.*  Optatus,  the  Gildonite,  was  one  of  the 
first  accused  as  a  satellite  of  the  rebel. ^  He  was  thrown 
into  prison  and  died  there.  His  party  accused  Augustine 
of  having  been  accessory  to  his  death,  and  later  venerated 
him  as  a  martyr.  Partisans  of  the  revolt  were  still  being 
pursued  with  severity  as  late  as  409."  The  fall  of  this  party 
was  not,  however,  immediately  followed  by  a  grand  tri- 
umph for  their  adversaries.  Mascezel,  himself,  did  not 
succeed  to  the  position  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  his 
brother,  for  Stilicho  would  no  more  favor  a  narrow  re- 
ligious partisanship  in  Africa  than  at  Rome.  According 
to  Zosimus,'  Mascezel  was  drowned  at  Stilicho's  com- 
mand. Orosius  merely  states  that  his  end  was  a  just  retri- 
bution for  having  profaned  a  church.*     Two  imperial 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  48  to  Eudoxius  and  Brothers. 

2  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  11;  Claudian,  de  Con.  St.,  i,  248-269. 

'  Claudian,  de  Cons.  St.,  i,  248-269. 

*Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  II. 

«  Aug.,  Contr.  Litt.  Pet.,  ii,  209;  Ep.,  76,  3. 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  40,  19;  ix,  39,  3;  ix,  42,  16;  ix.  42,  19;  vii,  8,  7; 
vii,  8,  9. 
'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  II. 
*  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  36. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


99 


functionaries,  Counts  Gaudentius  and  Jovius/  were  sent 
into  Africa  as  direct  representatives  of  the  crown  and  num- 
erous specific  edicts  were  issued  to  bear  directly  on  the 
African  situation.  These  new  laws  seem  intended  to  re- 
press any  unlawful  acts  on  the  part  of  pagans  or  heretics 
rather  than  to  give  new  powers  to  the  orthodox.  They 
reflect  the  mildness  and  the  conciliatory  policy  of  Stilicho. 

During  the  recent  period  of  unrest  considerable  injury 
had  been  done  to  the  Catholics  in  certain  localities  by  bands 
of  circumcelliones.^  Possibly  as  a  result  of  this  the  fol- 
lowing measure  was  enacted  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  April, 
398: 

If  anyone  shall  commit  such  sacrilege  as  to  break  into  Catholic 
churches  and  offer  injury  to  the  priests  and  ministers,  or  the 
divine  worship,  or  to  the  place  itself,  let  the  occurrence  be  re- 
ported in  writing  by  the  city  councils,  magistrates,  curators 
and  assistant  notaries,  who  are  called  siationarii,  to  the  pro- 
vincial authorities,  setting  forth  the  words  used  by  those  who 
could  be  identified.  And  if  it  be  alleged  that  the  offence  was 
committed  by  a  great  number  and  that  they  cannot  all  be  iden- 
tified, it  may  be  possible  to  discover  some  by  whose  confession 
the  name  of  their  associates  may  be  disclosed.  And  the  gov- 
ernor (moderator)  of  the  province  is  to  understand  that  any 
insult  to  the  priests  and  ministers  of  the  Catholic  Church  or  to 
the  divine  worship  or  to  the  place  itself  is  to  be  visited  with 
capital  punishment  upon  the  parties  who  are  convicted  or  who 
plead  guilty ;  nor  shall  he  wait  for  the  bishop  to  demand  satis- 
faction for  the  insult  to  himself,  since  his  holy  character  leaves 
him  no  glory  save  that  of  forgiving.  It  shall  be  not  only  per- 
missible to  all  but  quite  praiseworthy  to  prosecute  outrageous 
insult  offered  to  priests  or  ministers  as  public  crime  and  to 
demand  the  punishment  of  the  persons  guilty  of  such  offences. 
And  if  the  turbulent  mob  cannot  be  repressed  by  the  civil 

'  Aug.,  City  of  God,  xviii,  c,  54. 

2  Aug.,  De  Gestis  cum  Emerito,  9 ;  Contr.  Lilt.  Pet.,  ii,  195,  184,  33. 


lOO 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


authorities  and  the  assistance  of  the  councillors  and  men  of 
property,  because  it  defends  itself  by  arms  or  the  strength  of 
its  position,  let  the  African  judges,  making  written  application 
to  his  worthiness,  the  Count  of  Africa,  citing  the  contents  of 
the  present  law  and  demand  the  support  of  his  armed  forces, 
in  order  that  they  who  are  guilty  of  such  crimes  may  not  es- 
cape.^ 

A  law  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  399,  reads :  - 
If  the  privileges  of  any  venerable  church  shall  have  been  vio- 
lated by  temerity  or  neglected  through  dissimulation,  let  the 
offence  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  five  pounds  of  gold  as  for- 
merly decreed.  If  therefore  anything  has  been  obtained  by 
chicane  against  church  or  clergy  by  heretics  or  men  of  that 
sort,  and  it  is  against  the  laws,  we  declare  it  null  and  void  by 
the  authority  of  this  decree. 

^Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  2,  31,  398  (409,  Jan.  13).  "  Theodoro  P.  P.  Si 
quis  in  hoc  genus  sacrilegii  proruperit,  ut  in  ecclesias  catholicas  inruens 
sacerdotibus  et  ministris  vel  ipsi  cultui  locoque  aliquid  inportet  injuriae, 
quod  geritur  litteris  ordinum,  magistratuiini  et  curatorum  et  notoriis 
apparitorum,  quos  stationarios  appellant,  deferatur  in  notitiam  potes- 
tatum,  ita  ut  vocabula  eorum,  qui  agnosci  potuerint,  declarentur.  Et 
si  per  multitudinem  coinmissuni  dicetur,  si  non  omnes,  possint  tamen 
aliquanti  cognosci,  quorum  confessione  sociorum  nomina  publicentur. 
Adque  ita  provinciae  moderator  sacerdolum  et  catholicae  ecclesiae 
ministrorum,  loci  quoque  ipsius  et  divini  cultus  injuriam  capitali  in 
convictos  sivi  confessos  reos  sententia  noverit  vindicandam  nec  ex- 
pectet,  ut  episcopus  injuriae  propriae  ultionem  deposcat,  cui  sanctitas 
ignoscendi  solam  gloriam  dereliquit.  Sitque  cunctis  non  solum  liberum, 
sed  et  laudabile  factas  atroces  sacerdotibus  aut  ministris  injurias  veluti 
publicum  crimen  persequi  ac  de  talibus  reis  ultionem  mereri.  Quod  si 
multitudo  violenta  civilis  apparitionis  executione  et  adminiculo  ordinum 
possessorunive  non  poti;erit  praesentari,  quod  se  armis  aut  locorum 
difficultate  tueatur,  judices  Africani  armatae  apparitionis  praesidium, 
datis  ad  virum  spectabilem  comitem  Africae  litteris,  praelato  legis  istius 
tenore  deposcant,  ut  rei  talium  criminum  non  evadant." 

'  Ibid.,  xvi,  2,  34.  "  Si  ecclesiae  venerabilis  privilegia  cuiusquam 
fuerint  vel  temeritate  violata  vel  dissimulatione  neglecta,  commissum 
quinque  librarum  auri,  sicut  etiam  prius  constitutum  est,  condemnatione 
plectatur.  Si  quid  igitur  contra  ecclesias  vel  clericos  per  obreptionem 
vel  ab  hereticis  vel  ab  huiuscemodi  hominibus  fuerit  contra  leges  im- 
petratum,  huius  sanctionis  auctoritate  vacuamus." 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


lOI 


These  laws  were  plainly  intended  for  the  maintenance  of 
peace  and  order,  not  for  the  punishment  of  any  sect.  The 
change  in  the  relations  of  heterodox  and  orthodox  resulted, 
in  last  analysis,  not  so  much  from  new  grants  of  power  as 
from  the  appointment  of  officials  friendly  to  the  latter  party 
We  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter  how  this  led  to  a  devel- 
opment of  orthodox  power.  Here  we  may  note  the  effect 
of  this  change  in  the  relations  between  orthodox  Chris- 
tians and  pagans. 

It  was  the  new  office-holders  working  in  harmony  with 
the  Catholics  that  increased  the  difficulties  of  the  pagans. 
The  edicts  actually  issued  against  the  pagans  were  not  of 
an  intolerant  nature.  Reunions  for  religious  sacrifices  were 
again  prohibited  but  their  works  of  art  were  preserved.  A 
law  of  the  twenty-ninth  of  January  399,^  reads : 

Just  as  we  prohibit  sacrifices,  so  at  the  same  time  we  will  that 
the  ornaments  of  public  works  be  preserved.  Nor  let  those  who 
try  to  destroy  them  allege  any  rescript  or  legal  authority  for 
their  act.  Let  all  writings  of  this  kind  be  taken  from  them 
and  referred  to  our  attention.  If  they  produce  spurious  war- 
rants, either  in  their  own  name  or  in  the  name  of  others,  let 
such  warrants  be  given  up  and  forwarded  to  us.  Whoever 
shall  have  given  currency  to  such  writings  must  pay  a  fine  of 
two  pounds  of  gold. 

Another  law  of  the  twentieth  of  August,  addressed  to  the 
Proconsul  of  Africa,^  conserves  pagan  feast  days: 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  15.  "  Macrobio  Vicario  Hispaniarum  et  Pro- 
cliano  Vicario  Quinque  Provinciarum.  Sicut  sacrificia  prohibemus,  ita 
volumus  publicorum  operum  ornamenta  servari.  Ac  ne  sibi  aliqua 
auctoritate  blandiantur,  qui  ea  conantur  evertere,  si  quod  rescriptum,  si 
qua  lex  forte  praetenditur.  Erutae  huiusmodi  chartae  ex  eorum  mani- 
bus  ad  nostram  scientiam  referantur,  si  inlicitis  evectiones  aut  suo  aut 
alieno  nomine  potuerint  demonstrare,  quas  oblatas  ad  nos  mitti  de- 
cernimus.  Qui  vero  talibus  cursum  praebuerint,  binas  auri  libras  in- 
ferre  cogantur." 

Ibid.,   xvi,    10,    17.     Apollodoro,    Procons.    Af.     "  Ut  profanos 


I02 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Although  we  have  ah-eady  suppressed  profane  rites  by  a  whole- 
some law,  yet  we  will  not  allow  the  festal  assemblies  and  the 
common  sports  of  the  citizens  to  be  disturbed.  We  decree  that 
the  sports,  following  ancient  custom,  be  held  for  the  people, 
together  with  the  festive  banquets,  whenever  the  public  voice 
demands,  but  without  any  criminal  superstition  or  sacrifice. 

On  the  same  date,^  the  following  was  promulgated : 

Let  no  one  invoke  our  ordinances  in  order  to  attempt  to  destroy 
such  temples  as  are  free  of  illicit  things.  And  in  order  that 
the  status  of  buildings  themselves  be  unimpaired,  we  decree 
that  if  anyone  shall  have  been  discovered  in  sacrifice,  he  be  pun- 
ished according  to  law,  after  the  idols  have  been  deposited 
with  a  magistrate,  by  means  of  such  proceedings  as  it  is  even 
now  possible  to  use  against  the  cult  of  vain  superstition. 

Hydatius,  writing  later  (fl.  c.  420),  speaks  of  the  de- 
struction of  idols  in  Africa;-^  "In  this  consulship  (Mal- 
lius  Theodorus)  the  temples  of  the  gentiles  were  demol- 
ished, Jovian  and  Gaudentius  being  counts."  This  could  not 
have  been  wholly  true,  or  the  orthodox  would  not  have  been 

ritus  jam  salubri  lege  submovimus,  ita  festos  conventus  civium  et  com- 
munem  omnium  laetitiam  non  patimur  submoveri.  Unde  absque  ullo 
sacrificio  atque  ulla  superstitione  damnabili  exhiberi  populo  voluptates 
secundum  veterem  consuetudinem,  inriri  etiam  festa  convivia.  si  quandti 
exigunt  publica  vota,  decernimus." 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  18.  Apollodoro,  Proc.  Af.  "Aedes  inlicitis 
rebus  vacuas  nostrarum  beneficio  sanctionum  ne  quis  conetur  evertere. 
Decernimus  enim,  ut  aedificiorum  quidem  sit  integer  status,  si  quis  vero 
in  sacrificio  fuerit  deprehensus,  in  eum  legibus  vindicetur,  depositis  sub 
officio  idolis  disceptatione  habita,  quibus  etiam  nunc  patuerit  cultuni 
vanae  superstitionis  inpendi." 

2  Hydatius,  Chron.  "  His.  Conss.  (Manlio  et  Theodoro)  templa 
gentilium  demolita  sunt,  Joviniano  et  Gaudentio  comitibus."  Notice 
that  Eutropius,  who  was  consul  in  the  East  at  this  time,  is  not  recog- 
nized. Then,  as  there  should  be  two  consuls,  Hydatius  has  split  the 
name  of  Manillius  Theodorus,  thus  providing  for  his  two  consuls. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO  IO3 

dissatisfied  with  the  laws  obtained.  The  Councils  of  Car- 
thage (V  and  VI),  of  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth  of  June, 
and  of  the  thirteenth  of  September,  401,  both  demand 
fuller  authority  for  this  work  of  destruction.* 

The  emperor  shall  be  solicited  to  allow  the  remnant  of  idolatry 
in  Africa  to  be  destroyed,  not  only  in  images  but  in  whatever 
sort  of  place,  whether  in  groves  or  woods.  .  .  .  There  is  press- 
ing need  also  to  importune  the  religious  emperors  to  give  orders 
that  the  rest  of  the  idols  in  Africa  be  removed,  for  in  many 
maritime  places  and  on  different  estates  this  iniquitous  error 
still  flourishes,  and  also  to  command  that  these  be  destroyed, 
together  with  the  temples  which  are  in  the  fields  or  secret 
places,  and  even  those  without  ornaments. 

Augustine  himself  was  careful  not  to  proceed  against  idols 
until  he  was  sure  of  a  law  to  support  his  action,  as  is  shown 
in  one  of  his  sermons : 

They  say  that  we  are  enemies  of  their  idols.  May  God  grant 
that  all  be  given  into  our  power,  as  he  hath  already  given  us 
that  which  we  have  broken  down.  For  this  I  say,  beloved, 
you  may  not  attempt  to  do,  when  it  is  not  lawfully  in  your 
power  to  do.  .  .  .  When  the  land  shall  have  been  given  into 
your  power  .  .  .  then,  saith  He,  ye  shall  destroy  their  altars 
and  break  in  pieces  their  images.  When  the  power  has  not 
been  given  we  do  not  act;  when  it  is  given,  we  do  not  fail  to 
use  it.    Many  pagans  have  these  abominations  on  their  estates, 

1  Mansi,  iii,  766;  Hefele,  ii,  i,  125;  Harduin,  i,  988,  c.  15.  "Item  pla- 
cuit,  ab  Imperatoribus  gloriosissimis  peti  ut  reliquiae  idolatriae  non 
solum  in  simulacris,  sed  in  quibuscumque  locis,  vel  lucis  vel  arboribus 
omnimode  deieantur."  Ibid.,  i,  898  (58).  "Instant  etiam  aliae  necessi- 
tates a  religiosis  Imperatoribus  postulandae.  ut  reliquias  idolorum  per 
onnem  Africam  jubeant  penitus  amputari :  nam  plerisque  in  locis  mari- 
timis,  adque  possessionibus  diversis,  adhuc  erroris  istius  iniquitas  viget : 
ut  praecipiantur  et  ipsa  deleti,  et  templa  eorum,  quae  in  agris,  vel  in 
locis  abditis  constituta  nullo  omamento  sunt,  jubeantur  omni  modo 
destrui." 


I04 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


— do  we  go  and  break  their  idols  in  pieces  ?  No,  for  our  first 
efforts  are  that  the  idol  in  their  hearts  should  be  broken  down. 
.  .  .  They  think  that  we  are  looking  out  for  idols  everywhere, 
and  that  we  break  them  down  iii  all  places  where  we  have 
discovered  them.  Are  there  not  places  before  our  very  eyes 
in  which  they  are?  And  yet  we  do  not  break  them  down  be- 
cause God  has  not  given  them  into  our  power. ^ 

In  carrying  on  the  work  in  Africa  some  trouble  was  en- 
countered. The  destruction  or  removal  of  the  statue  of 
Hercules  in  Suffectum  resulted  in  serious  riots  in  which 
sixty  Christians  were  killed.  Augustine  complains  of  this 
murder :  ^  "  In  your  cit}'  there  has  been  shed  the  innocent 
blood  of  sixty  of  our  brethren ;  and  whoever  approved  him- 
self most  active  in  this  massacre,  was  rewarded  with  your 
applause,  and  v\dth  a  high  place  in  your  coiincil.  ...  If 
you  say  that  Hercules  belonged  to  you  we  will  make  good 
your  loss."  At  Carthage  there  was  still  a  statue  of  Her- 
cules which  a  new  magistrate  had  permitted  the  pagans  to 
gild.  The  Christians,  irritated  by  its  new  luster,  secured 
the  permission  of  the  magistrates  of  their  own  faith  to  cut 
off  its  golden  beard,  thus  greatly  offending  the  pagans. 
The  people  interrupted  Augustine's  sermon  demanding  the 
entire  abolition  of  paganism.  It  seems  that  Aurelius,  the 
bishop  of  Carthage,  had  stirred  the  people  to  make  this  de- 
mand. Augustine  commended  their  zeal  ^  and  prayed  them 
to  leave  the  matter  to  the  bishops.  They  were  doing  all  that 
they  could  and  he  gave  them  hopes  of  a  successful  issue 
since  God  had  promised  the  entire  destruction  of  idolatry, 
and  that  had  already  transpired  in  different  places  even  at 
Rome  itself. 

1  Aug.,  Serm.,  xii. 

2  Aug.,  Ep.,  50  (399)- 

»  Aug.,  Serm.,  24  (ed.  Migne),  preached  at  Carthage,  "  Gratulatur 
fidelibus  dei  zelo  inccnsis  contra  idola." 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


This  statement  of  Augustine  regarding  Rome  is  a 
clear  exaggeration,  paganism  was  not  yet  extinct  there. 
W^e  know  that  even  the  Catholic  senators  did  not  dare  to 
act  openly,  as  is  shown  by  a  letter  which  Augustine  ad- 
dressed ^  to  Pammachius,  a  wealthy  Roman  senator,  son- 
in-law  of  Paula,  who  held  possessions  in  Africa: 

Had  you  not  been  rooted  as  you  are  in  His  love,  you  would 
not  have  dealt  as  you  have  with  your  African  tenants  (coloni) 
settled  in  the  midst  of  the  consular  province  of  Numidia?  .  .  . 
We  desire  in  Africa  to  see  such  work  as  this  by  which  you 
have  gladdened  us,  done  by  many,  who  are,  like  yourself,  sena- 
tors in  state  and  sons  of  Holy  Church.  It  is,  however,  hazard- 
ous to  give  them  this  exhortation;  they  may  refuse  to  follow 
it,  and  the  enemies  of  the  church  will  take  advantage  of  this 
victory  over  us  in  the  minds  of  those  who  disregard  our 
counsel.  ...  I  have,  therefore,  thought  it  sufficient  to  ask  you 
to  read  this  letter  with  friendly  boldness  to  any  to  whom  you 
can  do  so  on  the  grounds  of  their  Christian  profession. 

Many  years  later,  when  writing  his  City  of  God,  Augus- 
tine tells  how  the  pagans  were  expecting  the  end  of  Chris- 
tianity in  398;  that  there  had  been  a  prophecy  that  Chris- 
tianity would  last  365  years  from  the  death  of  its  founder. 
But  no  writing  shows  a  contemporaneous  knowledge  of 
this  prophecy,  nor  is  Aiigustine  confirmed  by  any  other 
later  writer.    He  says : 

Now,  in  the  following  year,  in  the  consulate  of  Mallius  Theo- 
dorus,  when,  according  to  that  oracle  of  demons  or  figment 
of  men,  there  ought  already  to  have  been  no  Christian  religion, 
it  was  not  necessary  to  enquire  what  perchance  was  done  in 
other  parts  of  the  earth.  But,  as  we  know,  in  the  most  promi- 
nent city  of  Carthage  in  Africa,  Gaudentius  and  Jovius,  offi- 
cers of  the  Emperor  Honorius,  on  the  fourteenth  day  before 


>  Aug.,  Ep.,  58  (401). 


io6 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


the  kalends  of  April,  overthrew  the  temples  and  broke  tlie 
images  of  the  false  gods.^ 

Some  laws  though  not  severe  were  obtained  against  the 
pagans ;  imperial  officers  came  to  Africa  to  enforce  them  and 
the  temple  of  Celestus  at  Carthage  was  turned  over  to  the 
party  in  power.  The  story  is  told  in  the  Liber  de  Promis- 
sionibits  et  Praedictionibus  Dei.^  For  years  the  exceedingly 
large  and  richly  ornamented  temple  of  Celestus  had  been 
vacant.  The  Christians  wished  it  for  their  use,  and  ac- 
cordingly on  Easter  a  multitude  of  priests,  among  whom 
was  Aurelius,  took  possession  of  the  building.  The  author 
of  the  account  states  that  he  was  a  small  boy  at  the  cere- 
mony, and  that  on  entering  to  inspect  the  temple  he  had 
found  an  inscription.  "Aiirelius  pontifex  dedicavit."  The 
people  were  greatly  astounded  and  confusing  Aurelius,  the 
bishop,  with  Aurelius,  the  emperor,  they  believed  that  this 
was  a  prophecy.  This  same  book  tells  of  the  discovery  of 
images  hidden  in  the  caves  in  Mauritania.  The  destruction 
of  a  fearful  man-eating  dragon  at  Rome  itself  is  also  de- 
scribed. Apparently  the  alliance  between  pagan  and  Dona- 
tist  was  not  very  binding,  for  upon  the  overthrow  of  Gildo. 
according  to  Augustine,  the  Donatists  turned  to  help  the 
orthodox  with  the  destruction  of  paganism.^  "  For  neither 
will  the  Maximianists,  whose  churches  wherever  you  were 
able  you  plundered,  stand  against  you,  nor  the  pagans, 
whose  temples  certainly  wherever  you  were  able,  you  over- 
turned and  whose  sanctuaries  you  destroyed;  just  as  we 
also  did." 

That  the  pagan  party  at  Rome  was  not  in  disgrace  as  the 
1  Aug.,  De  Civitate  Dei,  i8,  53.  54- 

'  Liber  de  Promissionibus  et  Praedictionibus  Dei,  3,  38-44,  formerly 
attributed  to  Prosper. 

3  Aug.,  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  38;  cf.  Contr.  Ep.  Par.,  i,  19. 


THE  REVOLT  OF  GILDO 


107 


result  of  the  African  revolt  at  this  time  is  evident  from 
two  appointments  of  the  year.  Alallius  Theodorus.  an 
intimate  friend  of  Symmachus,  whom  Claudian  eulogized 
in  his  panygeric,  De  Theodora,^  was  made  consul  in  the 
West  for  the  year  399.'  The  other  appointment  was  that 
of  Flavianus,  Symmachus'  son-in-law,  as  prefect  of  Rome.^ 
The  elder  Flavianus  had  killed  himself  at  the  battle  of 
Frigidus.  His  estates  then  confiscated,  were  later  restored 
to  his  son,*  but  Augustine  leads  one  to  suppose  that  it  was 
only  upon  their  becoming  Christians.  During  the  revolt 
of  Gildo,  the  pagan  party  at  Rome  had  remained  faithful. 
In  regard  to  Flavianus's  appointment  we  have  the  follow- 
ing letter :  ® 

I  am  in  no  wise  able  to  render  sufficient  thanks  for  what  you 
have  just  done  regarding  my  son  Flavianus,  and  although 
speech  should  be  easier  than  action,  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
elevate  mine  to  the  level  of  graciousness.  My  gratitude  is  so 
great  only  because  we  see  in  Flavianus  a  man  restored  to  the 
favor  which  he  had  lost.  The  senate  and  the  whole  nation 
testify  their  joy.  It  is  difficult  for  the  discourse  of  an  indi- 
vidual to  acquit  the  debt  of  so  many;  but  in  consideration  of 
the  importance  of  the  affair,  you  will  pardon  this  one  who 
speaks  so  briefly.  There  is  more  merit  in  restoring  a  dignity 
than  in  conferring  it;  in  the  latter  case  it  is  chance  which  con- 
sents, in  the  former  it  is  goodness  which  compels.  The  father 
of  the  princes,  who  to-day  is  in  the  heavens,  has  given  similar 
examples  of  clemency :  he  restored  to  Flavianus  many  things 
which  the  course  of  events  had  caused  him  to  lose.  Honorius 
has  received  this  goodness  as  a  precious  heritage,  and  by  the 
advice  of  your  greatness,  he  has  added  this  act  of  virtue  to  his 
inheritance,  thus  indicating  that  the  time,  and  not  the  intention, 


'  Claudian,  De  Theodora ;  biography  by  Peter  Paul  Rubens. 
2  Symmachus,  Ep.,  5,  6.  '  Cod.  Theod.,  xiv,  10,  3. 

*  Symmachus,  iv,  ig.  Symmachus,  iv,  7. 


io8 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


has  been  lacking  to  the  divine  prince,  whose  worthy  successor 
continues  the  work  of  clemency  interrupted  by  cruel  destiny. 
A  very  mild  and  august  prince  has  crowned  the  acts  of  his 
father,  and  I  wish  him,  in  the  name  of  the  public  good,  always 
to  have  your  like  as  a  minister ;  for  the  ministers  of  a  great 
empire  who  advise  only  just  things  are  the  instruments  of  a 
happy  age.  Our  emperor  has  a  spirit  which  comes  from  a 
divine  source  and  a  nature  given  entirely  to  virtue.  .  .  The 
love  of  the  soldiers  for  you  and  the  knowledge  of  your  useful- 
ness have  rendered  his  glory  more  dear.  This  is  why  you 
always  make  easy  for  him  the  paths  of  love,  and  keep  him, 
absorbed  as  he  is  in  the  greatest  things,  from  disdaining  to 
consider  private  affairs.  The  public  evils  have  vanished  and 
dissatisfaction  is  no  longer  rife  in  the  senate.  Dignities  are 
given  to  one  and  restored  to  others.  We  owe  to  a  single  family 
all  that  we  are.  But  I  must  finish  this  letter,  for  fear  lest 
my  speech,  not  being  equal  to  your  clemency,  may  appear  tire- 
some to  your  modesty.  The  happiness  which  the  certainty  of 
good  service  assures  will  serve  as  your  recompense.  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  words  of  anyone  whatsoever  could  acknowledge 
so  great  benefit.  You  know  better  than  anyone  else  that  a 
good  conscience  is  the  only  recompense  worthy  of  those  who 
accord  such  favors.  I  dare,  however,  add  yet  one  thing:  do 
not  cease  to  love  in  the  person  of  Flavianus  your  own  good 
offices. 


CHAPTER  IV 


The  Doxatist  Situation  at  the  Fall  of  Stilicho 

Althouh  Stilicho  had  attempted  to  re-estabHsh  his 
poHcy  of  toleration  for  the  African  situation  following  the 
revolt  of  Gildo,  this  had  but  little  effect  upon  the  continu- 
ance of  the  struggle.  The  very  fact  that  pagans  and  Dona- 
tists  were  no  longer  protected  by  the  governor  through  the 
troops  of  the  state,  since  these  forces  had  been  turned  over 
to  the  orthodox,  resulted  in  the  decline  in  the  power  of  the 
former  parties  and  a  rise  in  that  of  the  latter.  The  ortho- 
dox, it  is  true,  did  not  gain  governmental  support  for  the 
suppression  of  their  enemies  till  405.  and  were  forced  to 
rely  on  a  campaign  of  pacific  propaganda  and  persuasion. 
Yet  these  were  powerful  forces  when  wielded  by  such  lead- 
ers as  Aurelius  and  Augustine. 

Augustine  was  especially  active.  He  wrote  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Tubursi  to  point  out  their  errors,^  and  he 
sought  a  conference  (398)  with  Fortunius,  their  bishop,* 
and  this  time  did  not  make  the  request  with  the  same 
humble  tone  that  he  had  formerly  assumed  in  trying  to 
gain  a  debate  with  Proculian.^  He  is  careful  to  explain 
that  he  takes  the  initiative  in  the  matter  solely  because  of 
the  deference  due  to  age,  even  though  it  be  possible  to 
insist  on  Fortunius'  coming  to  him.  Nor  did  this  bishop 
disdain  a  conference.    It  took  place  and  the  whole  tone  of 


'  Aug.,  Ep.,  43. 
^  Supra,  p.  95. 


'  Aug..  £/>..  44. 

109 


I  lO 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Fortunius'  remarks  show  that  the  Donatists  were  beginning 
to  fear  the  orthodox.  Fortunius  speaks  often  of  a  threat- 
ened persecution.  One  of  the  principal  endeavors  of  Au- 
gustine was  to  show  him  that  this  was  a  groundless  sus- 
picion. Augustine's  activity  was  tireless.  He  sought  next 
a  discussion  with  Crispinus.  Donatist  bishop  of  Calama. 
and  also  worked  with  private  individuals.^  He  tried  to 
convert  his  cousin,  Severinus ;  -  stimulated  the  zeal  of  his 
fellow  Catholics,^  and,  as  we  have  shown  above,*  he  worked 
with  the  Roman  senators  urging  upon  them  the  conversion 
of  the  people  upon  their  African  estates.  According  to  the 
other  party  he  worked  with  more  zeal  than  discretion  for 
he  and  the  church  were  even  accused  of  urging  those  same 
corrupt  practices  in  the  gaining  of  converts  ^  that  they 
attributed  to  their  enemies.  Augustine,  however,  states 
that  his  aim  was  to  make  the  reconciliation  of  the  two 
parties  as  simple  a  matter  as  possible;  showing  the.  Dona- 
tists that  their  only  fault  was  separation,  their  only  crime 
rebaptizing.  If  the  orthodox  were  conscious  of  an  in- 
crease in  their  power,  and  there  were  cases  in  which  they 
took  advantage  of  the  temporal  aids  granted  in  the  general 
laws  against  heretics,"  Augustine  states  that  this  was  only 
for  self-defence,  to  repress  violence  or  to  gain  freedom.'^ 
The  Donatists  on  their  part  seem  to  have  assumed  a  less 
uncompromising  attitude.  The  year  after  Fortunius  ac- 
cepted Augustine's  offer  of  a  conference,  Honoratus,  an- 
other of  their  bishops,  took  the  initiative  and  asked  Augus- 
tine for  a  discussion,  but  he  requested  that  the  matter  be 

» Aug.,  Epp.,  51,  56,  57-  '  Aug.,  Ep.,  52. 

^Ibid.,  34,  35,  53,  58,  61,  69,  85. 
*  Supra,  p.  105;  Aug.,  Ep.,  58. 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  66.  '  Aug.,  Ep.,  66. 

'  Aug.,  Epp.,  51,  66,  I ;  88,  7;  105,  2-4.  Contr.  Lift.  Pet.,  ii,  184  Contr. 
Cresc,  iii,  47-51 ;  Possid,  Vita  Aug.,  14. 


THE  DON  ATI  ST  SITUATION 


1 1 1 


carried  on  by  letter;  in  order  to  avoid  the  turmoil  of  a 
public  disputation.^  In  his  reply  to  Honoratus,  Augustine 
took  pains  very  carefully  to  set  forth  his  arguments  against 
the  Donatists.  It  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Donatists  to 
ignore  their  opponents:  their  altered  political  position  and 
the  zeal  of  the  orthodox  now  at  last  forced  them  to  respond 
to  the  attacks  of  their  enemies. 

Petilian,  bishop  of  Citra.  undertook  to  combat  Augus- 
tine's arguments.  His  letters  were  immediately  refuted 
by  Augustine.^  Petilian  responded  with  another  letter  in 
which  he  attacked  Augustine  personally,  saying  that  he 
really  remained  a  Manichaean.^  and  that  Megalius  of  Cal- 
ama  had  not  wished  to  consecrate  him  as  bishop  because  of 
his  sins.  He  entered  a  plea  for  religious  toleration  and 
tried  to  show  that  religious  persecutions  had  been  con- 
demned by  God.*  This  did  not  conflict  with  the  attitude 
of  Augustine,  he  still  continued  to  be  an  advocate  of  con- 
version by  peaceable  means,  though  the  church  was  using 
the  force  of  the  laws.  Augustine  writes :  "  It  is  not  of  man 
that  we  would  make  you  afraid,"  and  he  would  not  even 
have  the  fines  inflicted  which  the  law  allowed. 

The  Church  Councils  also  show  the  conciliatory  spirit 
which  we  have  noted  in  Augustine's  controversies.  They 
not  only  made  advances  to  the  Donatists,  they  even  proposed 
the  terms  upon  which  reconciliation  would  be  accepted,  even 
granting  concession  which  had  been  denied  by  a  Roman 
council.  The  fifth  Council  of  Carthage,'  of  June,  401,  pro- 
vided that  sons  of  Donatists  might  be  raised  to  clerical  posi- 
tions on  entering  the  church.    The  sixth  Council  of  Car- 

lAug.,  £/>.,  49.  -Aug.,  Contr.  Litt.  Pet.,  iii,  16. 

*  Aug.,  Contr.  Litt.  Pet.,  iii,  2,  11  et  seg. 

*  Ibid.,  ii,  40-46. 

'  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i ;  126  et  seq.;  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  895. 


112 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


thage/  which  was  held  on  the  thirteenth  of  September  of 
the  same  year,  passed  the  following  canons  on  this  subject : 
(Can.  66)  One  should  act  discretely  with  the  Donatists,  but 
(Can.  67)  it  would  be  necessary  to  engage  the  secular  judges 
to  write  official  reports  on  the  way  to  act  with  the  Maxi- 
mianists.  (Can.  68)  The  Donatist  clerics  who  entered  the 
church  might  retain  their  offices,  if  it  were  necessary  for  the 
establishment  of  the  peace  of  the  church,  although  a  council 
from  overseas  had  borne  on  this  point  a  more  severe  de- 
cision. (Can.  69)  Deputies  were  to  be  sent  to  the  Dona- 
tists to  engage  them  to  re-enter  the  church.  They  were  to 
be  informed  that  they  would  be  served  in  regard  to  their 
sectarians,  i.  e.,  the  Maximianists,  by  the  procedure  with 
which  they  reproach  the  Catholic  church  of  serving  them. 
(Can.  72)  One  should  not  hesitate  to  baptize  infants  if  it 
be  not  positive  that  they  had  already  been  baptized.  (Can. 
75)  The  emperor  should  be  asked  to  name,  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  bishops,  defensores  for  the  church. 

Some  Donatist  bishops  took  advantage  of  the  Catholic 
offers.  The  council  of  Mileve,  of  the  twenty-seventh  of 
August,  402,  shows  that  Maximius,  a  Donatist  bishop,  re- 
turned to  the  Catholic  party. ^ 

The  eighth  Council  of  Carthage,  of  the  twenty-fifth  of 
August,''  403  continued  the  same  broad  policy.  It  adopted 
canons  that:  (Can.  91)  Each  bishop  ought  in  his  episcopal 
city,  either  himself  or  in  conjunction  with  his  colleagues, 
of  the  neighborhood,  to  enter  into  relations  with  the  leaders 
of  the  Donatists  to  engage  them,  through  the  intermediaries 
of  judges  and  civil  magistrates,  to  send  deputies  on  their 

■  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  126  et  seq.;  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  899  et  seq. 
'  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  134;  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  911,  can.  88. 
*  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  155;  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iii,  787,  1155;  Harduin, 
op.  cit.,  i,  914. 


THE  DONATIST  SITUATION 


part,  having  in  view  a  general  conference  or  colloquy  on 
the  religious  questions.  The  letters  to  be  written  on  this 
occasion  to  the  civil  judges  shall  be  signed  in  the  name  of 
all  by  the  Bishop  of  Carthage.  (Can.  92)  The  letter  des- 
tined for  the  Donatists  was  submitted  by  Archbishop  Aure- 
lian;  it  may  be  summed  up  as  follows:  The  Donatists  and 
the  Catholics  should  each  choose  deputies  to  the  council; 
they  should  discuss  the  points  in  dispute  in  order  to  arrive 
as  soon  as  possible  at  eternal  fraternity. 

Nothing  came  of  these  attempts  at  reconciliation,  how- 
ever. The  Proconsul  sent  out  the  edict  advising  the  con- 
ferences.* but  there  was  no  general  conference  for  all  ad- 
vances were  repulsed.  Primianus.  the  Donatist  bishop  of 
Carthage  and  head  of  the  party,  refused  to  confer  with 
Aurelius.^  Moreover  he  sent  a  personal  circular  letter  to 
each  of  his  bishops  in  explanation  of  this  attitude.^  A  Dona- 
tist Council  decided  to  refuse  the  conference.*  The  activi- 
ties of  the  Catholics  had  only  served  to  stir  up  their  oppo- 
nents. As  all  the  overtures  of  the  Catholic  Church  for  a 
peaceful  reconciliation  were  repulsed,  a  more  stringent 
policy  became  necessary. 

These  attempts  at  conciliation  were  rendered  largely 
fruitless  through  the  action  of  the  Circumcelliones,  and,  we 
may  surmise,  fanatics  on  both  sides.  Augustine  throws 
the  blame  upon  the  Circumcelliones,  who,  he  charges,  not 
onl}'  bribed  but  murdered  and  laid  waste  the  country.""^ 

*  Coll.  Carth.,  iii,  174:  Aug.,  Brei'iculus  Collafionis  cum  Donatistis,  iii, 
4,  4;  8,  11;  Ad  Don.  post.  Coll.,  i,  i,  16,  20:  31,  53:  Senn  ii  in  Ps..  36, 
18:  Contr.  Cresc,  iv,  47,  57;  Ep.,  88,  7. 

'  Aug.,  Brev.  Coll.,  iii,  4,  4;  8,  11 ;  Contr.  Cresc,  iv,  47,  57;  Ad  Don. 
post.  Collat.,  i,  I,  16,  20;  31,  53. 
'  Aug.,  Serm.,  ii,  in  Ps.  36,  18. 

*  Aug.,  Epp.,  76,  4;  88,  7,  8;  Contr.  Cresc.  iii.  45.  49;  46,  50. 

5  Aug.,  Epp.,  43,  185 ;  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  43 ;  Contr.  Litt.  Pet.,  ii,  184. 


114 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Then,  in  February,  400,  the  orthodox  secured  a  rescript 
which  took  from  the  Donatists  privileges  formerly  granted 
them  by  Julian.  This  is  the  first  definite  step  in  the  process 
of  their  legal  suppression/ 

We  will  that  an  edict  be  posted  in  the  most  frequented  places, 
whereby  the  rescript  which  the  Donatists  are  said  to  have 
obtained  from  Julian  when  he  was  ruling,  shall  be  produced 
and  amendments  be  added  in  which  a  provision  of  this  kind  has 
been  inserted,  whereby  all  may  know  both  the  firm  stability  of 
the  Catholic  faith  and  the  hopelessness  of  the  Donatists  who 
are  colored  with  falsehood. 

The  Circumcelliones  commanded  by  schismatic  clerics  be- 
came especially  active,  attacking  bishops,  clerics,  and  mis- 
sionaries.' Kestitutus  was  outraged;'^  Servius  of  Tubursi 
and  his  father  were  maltreated.*  Possidius,  Bishop  of 
Calama,  was  surprised  on  the  road.  He  succeeded  in  es- 
caping to  a  neighboring  building,  but  it  was  set  on  fire 
and  he  would  have  been  burned  alive  had  it  not  been  for 
timely  intervention.®  Crispinus,  the  Donatist  bishop,  re- 
fused to  punish  priests  for  this  act,  so  Possidius  brought 
complaint  before  the  proconsul,  who  inflicted  upon  Crispi- 
nus a  fine  of  ten  pounds  of  gold.  This  sentence  was  con- 
firmed after  an  appeal  to  the  emperor.    Yet  later  we  find 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  37.  "  Rescriptum,  quod  Donatistae  a  Juliano 
tunc  principe  impetrasse  dicuntur,  proposito  programmate  celeberrimis 
in  locis  volumus  anteferri  et  gesta,  quibus  est  huiuscemodi  allegatio 
inserta,  subnecti,  quo  omnibus  innotescat  et  Catholicae  confidentiae 
stabilita  constantia  et  Donatistarum  desperatio  fucata  perfidia." 

2  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  13,  14;  Aug.,  Epp.,  88,  6;  185,  4,  18;  Contr.  Cresc, 
iii,  46,  50 ;  45,  49 ;  48,  53- 

'  Aug.,  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  48,  53 ;  Ep-,  88,  6. 

*  Aug.,  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  43,  47. 
Possid..  Vit.,  14 ;  Aug.,  Ep.,  105,  2,  4 ;  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  46,  50. 


THE  DONA  TIST  SITU  A  TION  1 1 5 

the  Catholic  bishops,  among  whom  were  Augustine  and 
Possidius,  addressing  Honorius  in  order  to  obtain  a  re- 
mission of  the  fine/  Maximian,  Catholic  bishop  of  Bagai, 
was  also  severely  treated."  He  fled  to  the  emperor's  court 
with  his  complaints  only  to  find  there  numbers  of  his  col- 
leagues with  similar  grievances.^  According  to  Augus- 
tine, no  tongue,  no  pen,  could  describe  all  the  violence  of 
the  Donatists  against  the  Catholics.*  So  the  ninth  Council 
of  Carthage,  of  the  sixteenth  of  June.  404,'  decided  to  make 
known  to  the  emperors  through  delegates,  Theasius  and 
Evodius,  that  the  Donatists  had  disdained  their  advances 
of  403,  that  they  had  not  appointed  delegates  as  requested 
and  that  they  were  committing  all  sorts  of  brutalities 
against  the  bishops,  clerics  and  churches  of  the  Catholics 
The  envoys  were  to  seek  the  emperor's  aid  for  the  church 
and  its  servants,  and  to  ask  him  to  apply  to  the  Donatists 
the  general  laws  of  Theodosius  against  heretics  and  to  have 
the  governors  in  Africa  so  instructed.  Augustine  states 
that  the  intention  was  to  have  this  law  applied  only  in 
those  districts  where  the  Catholic  church  was  suffering 
violence  from  Donatists.  Awaiting  the  decision  of  the 
emperors,  they  addressed  the  civil  magistrates,  asking  them 
to  restore  order  and  to  protect  Catholics,  until  the  arrival 
of  the  imperial  ordinances.  Augustine,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  minority,  was  not  in  favor  of  the  policy  adopted. 
He  was  still  for  restoring  unity  by  a  peaceful  propa- 
ganda."   The  petition  of  the  deputation  was  granted.  No 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  88,  7;  105,  2,  4;  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  47,  51  :  Poss.,  Vit.,  14. 

'  Aug.,  Contr.  Cresc.  iii,  43 ;  Ep.  185,  26,  26,  27. 

»  Aug.,  Epp.,  88,  7;  185,  7;  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  43,  47:  45.  49- 

*  Aug.,  Epp.,  86,  6 ;  105,  3 ;  185.  18 ;  Contr.  Cresc,  iii,  42,  44. 

*  Codex  Can.  Ec.  Af.  Can.,  93 ;  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  155 ;  Harduin. 
op.  cit.,  i,  915. 

«Aug.,  Ep.,  93.  17;  cf.  Ep.,  23,  7;  Ret.,  ii,  5. 


ii6 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


emperor  could  tolerate  the  strife  that  had  grown  up  fol- 
lowing the  revolt  of  Gildo.   And  so,  even  in  the  time  of  the 
tolerant  Stilicho,  there  was  secured  from  Honorius  a  series 
of  drastic  laws  against  the  Donatists  as  heretics. 
One  of  February  the  twelfth,  405,  reads :  ^ 

.  .  .  Let  there  be  one  Catholic  worship,  one  salvation,  and 
let  the  equal  and  self-congruent  holiness  of  the  trinity  be 
sought.  And  should  anyone  dare  to  take  part  in  the  things 
interdicted  and  illicit,  he  shall  not  escape  the  toils  of  the  in- 
numerable constitutions  formerly  passed  and  the  law  lately 
laid  down  by  our  clemency.  And  shall  perchance  seditious 
tumults  arise,  let  him  not  doubt  that  instigations  to  more  ser- 
ious disturbances  will  be  suppressed. 

Another  of  the  same  date  ^  reads : 

By  the  severity  of  this  command,  lest  the  polluted  sect  of  the 
Donatists  or  Montanists  violate  divine  grace  by  rebaptism.  we 
abolish  all  occasion  for  deception,  decreeing  that  assured  pun- 
ishment shall  be  meted  out  to  men  of  this  kind,  and  that  these 
who  have  offended  against  the  Catholic  religion,  by  perverted 
dogma,  shall  undergo  the  avenging  judgments  of  the  law. 
Therefore  we  command  that  if  hereafter  any  shall  be  found  to 

'  Cod.  Tlicod..  xvi,  5,  38.  "...  Una  sit  catholica  veneratio.  una 
salus  sit,  trinitatis  par  sibique  congruens  sanctitas  expetatur.  Quod 
si  quis  audeat  interdictis  sese  inlicitisque  miscere  et  praeteritorum 
innumerabilium  constitutorum  et  legis  nuper  a  mansuetudine  nostra 
prolatae  laqueos  non  evadat  et  si  turbae  forte  convenerint  seditionis. 
concitatos  aculeos  acrioris  conmotionis  non  dubitet  exserendos." 

-  Ibid.,  xvi,  6,  5.  "  Ne  divinam  gratiam  sub  repitito  baptismate 
polluta  Donatistarum  vel  Montanistarum  secta  violaret,  fallendi 
occasionem  severitate  huius  praeceptionis  aboleinus  statuentes,  ut 
certa  huiusmodi  homines  poena  sequatur  legisque  censuram  experi- 
antur  ultricem,  qui  in  CathoHcam  religionem  perverse  dogmate  commi- 
sissent.  Jubemus  igitur,  ut,  si  quis  posthac  fuerit  rebaptizare  detectus, 
judici  qui  provinciae  praesidet  offeratur,  ut  facultatum  omnium  publi- 
catione  multatus  inopiae  poenam  expendat,  etc." 


THE  DON  AT  I  ST  SITUATION 


11/ 


rebaptize,  he  shall  be  brought  before  the  presiding  judge  of 
the  province,  to  pay  the  penalty  of  impoverishment  through 
the  confiscation  of  all  of  his  goods. 

A  third  law  of  the  same  date  ^  reads : 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  6,  4.  Hadriano,  Pr.  P.  "Adversarios  catholicae 
fidei  exstirpare  huius  decreti  aiictoritate  prospeximus.  IJeoque  inter- 
cidendam  specialiter  earn  sectam  nova  constitutione  censuiinus,  quae, 
ne  haeresis  vocaretur,  appellationem  schismatis  praeferebat.  In  tantum 
enim  sceleris  progressi  dicuntur  hi,  quos  Donatistas  vocant,  ut  baptisma 
sacrosanctum  mysteriis  recalcatis  temeritate  noxia  iterarini  et  homines 
semel,  ut  traditum  est,  munere  divinitaiis  abUitos,  contagione  profanae 
repetitionis  infecerint.  Ita  contigit,  ut  haeresis  ex  schismate  nasceretur. 
Inde  male  credulas  mentes  ad  spem  secundae  indulgentiae  blandus 
error  invitat;  facile  est  enim  persuadere  peccantibus,  veniam  prius 
praestitam  denuo  posse  praestari ;  quae,  si  concedi  iterum  eodem  mode 
potest,  non  intellegimus,  cur  tertio  denegetur.  Hi  vero  et  servos  vel 
homines  juri  proprio  subditos  iterati  baptismatis  polluunt  sacrilegio. 
Quare  hac  lege  sancimus,  ut  quisquis  post  haec  fuerit  rebaptizasse 
delectus,  judici  qui  provinciae  praeside:  cfferatur,  ut  facuUatum 
omnium  publicatione  multatus  inopiae  poenam,  qua  in  perpetuum  affi- 
ciatur  expendat,  ita  ut  filiis  eorum,  si  a  paternae  societatis  pravitate 
dissentiunt,  ea  quae  fuerint  paterna,  non  pereant,  ut,  si  ipsos  forsitan 
scaevitas  paternae  depravationis  'mplicuit  ac  reverti  ad  catholicam 
religionem  malunt,  adipiscendorum  his  bonorum  copia  non  negetur.  i. 
Ea  praeterea  loca  seu  praedia,  quae  feralibus  sacrilegiis  deinceps  consti- 
terit  praebuisse  secretum,  fisci  viribus  applicentur,  si  tamen  dominus 
aut  domina  aut  praesens  forte  fuisse  aut  consensum  praestitisse  pro- 
detur;  quos  quidem  justa  etiam  per  sententiam  notabit  infamia.  Si 
vero  his  nesciis  per  conductorem  procuratoremve  eorum  in  domo  agi- 
tatum  huiusmodi  facinus  comprobatur,  praejudicio  a  praediorum  publi- 
catione suspenso  inpliciti  sceleris  auctores  cohercitos  plumbo  exsilium 
in  quo  omni  vitae  suae  tempore  afficiantur,  accipiet.  2.  Ac  ne  forsitan 
sit  liberum  conscientiam  piacularis  flagitii  perpetrati  intra  domesticos 
parietes  silentio  celare,  servis,  si  qui  forsitan  ad  rebaptizandum  cogen- 
tur,  refugiendi  ad  ecclesiam  catholicam  sit  facultas,  ut  eius  praesidio 
adversus  huius  criminis  et  societatis  auctores  attributae  libertatis  prae- 
sidio defendantur,  liceatque  his  sub  hac  conditione  fidem  tueri,  quam 
extorquere  ab  invitis  domini  temptaverint ;  nec  assertores  dogmatis 
catholici  ea,  qua  ceteros,  qui  in  potestate  sunt  positi.  oportet  ad  facinus 
lege  constringi,  et  maxime  convenit,  omnes  homines  sine  ullo  discri- 
mine  conditionis  aut  status  infusae  caelitus  sanctitatis  esse  custodes. 
3.  Sciant  ii  vero,  qui  ex  supra  dictis  sectis  iterare  baptisma  non 


n8 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


We  purpose  by  the  authority  of  this  decree  to  extirpate  the  ad- 
versaries of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  so  we  decree  by  a  new  con- 
stitution, that  especially  this  sect,  which  in  order  not  to  be 
called  a  heresy  bears  the  title  of  a  schism,  ought  to  be  de- 
stroyed. For  into  so  great  crime  those  who  are  called  Dona- 
tists  are  said  to  have  advanced  that  they  repeat  with  noxious 
boldness  the  sacred  baptism,  repeating  the  mysteries  and  by  the 
contagion  of  sacrilegious  repetition  they  poison  men,  absolved 
once  for  all  by  the  gift  of  divine  grace,  as  is  the  custom.  Thus 
it  happens  that  a  heresy  is  born  from  schism.  Thence,  un- 
fortunately bland  error  entices  credulous  minds  into  the  hope 
of  a  second  indulgence ;  for  it  is  easy  to  persuade  sinners  that 
the  pardon  once  granted  may  again  be  renewed.  If  this  may 
in  this  manner  be  conceded  a  second  time,  we  (!o  not  know 
why  it  should  be  denieci  a  third.  Indeed,  they  pollute  both 
servants  and  free  men  who  undergo  the  sacrilege  of  a  second 
baptism.  Wherefore  by  this  law  we  decree  that  anyone  here- 
after found  to  have  rebaptized  shall  be  brought  before  the 
provincial  judge,  that  having  been  punished  by  the  confiscation 
of  all  of  his  goods  he  may  suf¥er  the  punishment  of  want  for 
all  time ;  providing,  however,  that  the  property  of  the  father 
shall  not  be  lost  to  the  sons  if  they  do  not  hold  to  the  parental 
depravity,  and  providing,  also,  that  if  perchance  they  have  been 
attached  thereto,  but  prefer  to  return  to  the  Catholic  religion, 
they  shall  not  be  denied  the  means  of  obtaining  the  property. 
I.  Moreover,  those  places  or  estates  that  shall  have  been  found 

timuerint  aut  qui  consentiendo  hoc  facinus  propria  ruius  societatis 
pernrlxticne  dainnavcrint,  non  solum  testandi  sibi.  veruni  adipiscendi 
aliquid  sul)  specie  donationis  vel  agitandorum  contractuum  in  per- 
petuum  copiam  denegatam.  nisi  pravae  mentis  errorem,  revcrtendo  ad 
veram  fidem  ccnsilii  emendatione  correxerint.  4.  IIlos  quoque  par 
nihilo  minus  poena  constringat,  si  qui  memoratorum  interdictis  coetibus 
seu  ministeriis  praebuerint  coniventiam,  ita  ut  moderatores  provinci- 
arum  si  in  contemptum  sanctionis  huisce  consensum  putaverint  com- 
modandum,  sciant  se  viginti  libras  auri  esse  multandos  officia  etiam  sua 
simili  condemnatione  subju'/anda.  Principales  vcl  defensores  civitatum, 
nisi  id  quod  praecipimiis  fuerint  exsecuti.  vel  his  praesentibus  ecclesiae 
catholicae  vis  fuerit  illata,  eadem  multa  se  noverint  attinendos." 


THE  DONATIST  SITUATION 


119 


to  have  been  given  over  secretly  to  deadly  sacrileges,  shall  be 
confiscated;  yet  only  providing  that  the  master  or  mistress 
shall  be  proven  to  have  been  present  or  to  have  given  his  or 
her  consent;  in  which  case  a  just  infamy  shall  brand  them 
through  judicial  sentence.  But  if  a  crime  of  this  sort  shall 
be  proven  to  have  been  committed  in  their  home  without  their 
knowledge  by  their  tenant  or  manager,  although  the  judgment 
of  confiscation  shall  be  suspended,  the  authors  of  the  crime 
shall  receive  correction  by  the  leaded  scourge  and  perpetual 
banishment.  2.  And  that  it  may  not  be  possible  to  conceal  the 
knowledge  of  shameful  rites  carried  on  within  the  walls  of  the 
home,  the  faculty  of  taking  refuge  in  the  Catholic  Church  is 
granted  to  those  slaves  who  are  perchance  forced  to  be  re- 
baptized,  that  under  its  protection  by  the  grant  to  them  of 
freedom  they  may  be  defended  against  the  authors  of  this 
crime  and  their  associates ;  and  thus  preserve  the  faith  which 
the  masters  have  tried  to  extort  from  them  against  their  will. 
It  is  not  fitting  that  the  upholders  of  Catholic  dogma  should  be 
constrained  to  a  misdeed  by  the  law  by  which  others  placed  in 
power  should  be  constrained.  All  men,  without  discrimination 
as  to  condition  or  rank,  should  be  guardians  of  the  sanctity 
which  flows  from  heaven.  3.  Let  those  of  the  above  sects, 
however,  who  have  not  feared  to  rebaptize,  or  who,  by  as- 
senting to  this  crime,  condemn  themselves  to  be  considered  as 
of  this  society,  know  that  they  are  forever  deprived  of  the 
right  of  testament,  or  of  receiving  anything  under  the  form  of 
a  donation,  or  of  making  contracts  except  they  amend  the  error 
of  their  depraved  mind  by  returning  to  the  true  faith,  correct- 
ing their  purpose.  4.  Punished,  also,  equally  severely  shall 
those  be  who  shall  have  connived  at  the  interdicted  gather- 
ings and  services  of  those  mentioned  above.  The  governors 
of  the  province  shall  know,  if  in  contempt  of  this  decree  they 
shall  have  thought  that  consent  was  to  be  made,  that  they 
are  to  be  fined  twenty  pounds  of  gold,  their  official  staflF 
suf¥ering  a  like  condemnation;  let  the  leaders  and  defensors 
of  the  city  know  that,  unless  this  which  we  command  shall 
have  been  carried  out,  or  if  in  their  presence  force  shall 


I20 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


have  been  used  against  tlie  Catholic  Church,  they  are  subject 
to  the  same  penalty.^ 

By  an  edict  of  the  fifth  of  March,  405,^  the  emperor 
ordered  the  promulgation  of  the  edict  of  Unity  in  the 
other  provinces.  "We  v^ill  that  the  edict  of  unity  which 
our  clemency  had  decreed  for  the  African  provinces  be  pro- 
mulgated through  the  other  provinces,  that  all  may  know 
that  the  one  true  Catholic  belief  in  a  single  omnipotent 
God,  vv^hich  true  belief  acknowledges,  must  be  held  by 
all."  These  laws  were  what  the  orthodox  had  been  de- 
manding and  working  for.  The  Donatists  were  now 
legally  heretics.  A  Donatist  chronicle  tells  us  that  the  per- 
secution commenced  on  June  the  twenty-sixth.^  The  tenth 
council  of  Carthage,  of  the  twenty-third  of  August, 
sent  a  synodal  letter  and  a  deputation  to  the  emperor  to 
thank  him  for  having  established  unity  at  Carthage.  They 
also  decided  to  ask  the  civil  judges  to  use  their  influence  in 
the  other  provinces  as  at  Carthage  for  the  reconciliation  of 
the  Donatists  with  the  church.*  And  on  the  eighth  of  De- 
cember, 405,  the  emperor  ordered  the  law  to  be  enforced 
in  all  places  by  the  following  edict.^  "  We  decree  that  the 
heretics  of  the  Donatist  superstition,  no  matter  of  what 
nlace  or  whether  they  confess  or  be  convicted  in  accordance 

'  Cf.  also  the  law  of  the  same  date,  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  6,  3.  "  Re- 
baptizantium  non  patimur  devios  errores,  etc." 

^  Ibid.,  xvi,  II,  2.  "Edictum  quod  de  unitate  per  Africanas  regiones 
dementia  nostra  direxit,  per  diversa  proponi  volumus,  ut  omnibus 
innotescat  dei  omnipotentis  unam  et  veram  fidem  catholicam,  quam  recta 
credulitas  confitetur,  esse  retinendam." 

*  Liber  Genealogns,  G.  627 ;  Mommsen,  Chronica  Minora,  i,  p.  196. 

*  Codex  Can.  Ecc.  Af.,  94;  Harduin,  i,  918-919;  Hefele,  ii,  i,  156. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  39.  "  Donatistae  superstitionis  haereticos  quo- 
cunque  loci  vel  fatentes  vel  convictos  legis  tenore  servato  poenam 
debitam  absque  dilatione  persolvere  dccernimus." 


I'HE  DONATIST  SITUATION 


121 


with  the  law  shall  without  delay  pay  the  penalty  due."  Au- 
gustine tells  us  that  many  were  converted  daily  and  were 
grateful  that  they  were  freed  from  the  heresy/  This  state- 
ment is  open  to  question,  for  the  process  of  conversion  was 
often  the  occasion  for  violence.  Many  were  fined  and  ex- 
iled, churches  were  confiscated  as  well  as  private  goods,  and 
legal  violence  was  the  occasion  for  private  vengeance.'  Vet 
the  Donatists  were  not  subdued;  Primianus  stayed  at  his 
post  in  Carthage ;  ^  at  Hippo  they  lost  their  churches  yet 
their  bishops  and  clerics  and  the  Circumcelliones  remained 
in  Numidia  the  persecuted  were  in  sufficient  numbers  to  take 
vengeance  upon  their  persecutors  and  the  audacity  of  the 
Circumcelliones  increased."'  At  Constantina  the  rival 
bishops  mutually  accused  each  other  of  violence."  Yet 
some  headway  was  made  by  the  orthodox.  The  eleventh 
Council  of  Carthage,  on  the  thirteenth  of  June.  407,  pro- 
vided for  the  reorganization  which  became  necessary  with 
the  restoration  of  Donatist  churches,  bishops  and  congrega- 
tions.'   Can.  99: 

Communities  which  on  quitting  the  Donatists  liave  bishops, 
may  keep  them  with  no  other  authorization  from  a  council,  but 
if  at  the  death  of  these  bishops  they  do  not  wish  to  have  tlieir 
own  bishop,  but  prefer  to  belong  to  the  diocese  of  some  other 
bishop,  they  shall  be  allowed  to  do  so.  Also  it  is  suggested 
that  whatever  bishop  shall  have  converted  any  community  be- 
fore the  publication  of  the  edict  of  union  of  the  emperor,  these 

1  Aug.,  Epp..  185,  7;  93.  5,  16;  Epp..  93,  I-  -2:  ^9.  8:  Coli.  Carth..  i, 
129. 

'Aug.,  Epp.,  88,  II  ;  89,  2;  93,  12,  50;  93,  3,  10. 

*  Coll.  Carth.,  i,  14,  104. 

*  Aug.,  Epp., 88,8, 12;  86;  105,  2,  3;  106-108;  in.  i ;  Retract,  ii,  53,  i. 
*Aug.,  Epp.,  88,  I,  8;  108,  5,  14;  6,  18;  in,  i ;  Contr.  Cresc,  111,43,47. 

*  Coll.  Carth.,  i,  139,  201. 

'  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  922;  Hefele,  op.  cii..  ii,  i.  157. 


122 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


same  ought  to  retain  them ;  but  after  the  pubHcation  of  the 
edict,  it  is  fit  that  CathoHc  bishops  of  the  neighborhood  to 
whom  they  belonged  of  right  while  they  were  still  heretical 
shall  claim  for  themselves  all  churches,  dioceses  and  goods  of 
the  converted  or  non-converted. 

Yet  the  continued  offences  of  the  Donatists  led  the  coun- 
cil to  send  deputies  to  the  emperor  asking  for  new  meas- 
ures of  repression.^ 

Laws  intended  directly  to  apply  to  the  African  situation 
were  issued.  They,  however,  in  no  wise  show  the  severity 
towards  the  Donatist  party  that  the  African  bishops  would 
desire.  Rather  they  exhibit  the  continued  tolerance  of 
Stilicho.  The  law  of  the  fifteenth  of  November,  407,' 
shows  indulgence  for  restored  heretics  but  urges  the  ap- 
plication of  the  law  against  the  uncompromising. 

'  Cod.  Can.  Ecc.  Af.  Can.,  99,  106,  117;  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  919. 

-  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  41.  "  Porphyrio  Proconsuli  Africae.  Licet 
crimina  soleat  poena  purgare,  nos  taiiien  pravas  hoiiiinum  voluntates 
admonitione  poenitentiae  volumus  cmendare.  Quicumque  igitur  haereli- 
corum,  sive  Donatistae  sint  sive  Manichaei  vel  cuiuscumque  alterius 
pravae  opinionis  ac  sectae  profanis  ritibus  aggregati,  catholicam  fidem 
et  ritum,  quem  per  omnes  homines  cupimus  observari,  simplici  confes- 
sione  siisceperint,  licet  adeo  inveteratum  malum  longa  ac  diuturna 
meditatione  nutriverint,  ut  etiam  legibus  ante  latis  videantur  obnoxii, 
tamen  hos  statim  ut  fuerint  Deum  simplici  religione  confessi,  ab  omni 
noxa  absolvendos  esse  censemus,  ut  ad  omnem  reatum,  seu  ante  con- 
tractus est  seu  postea  quod  nolumus  contrahitur,  etiamsi  maxime  reos 
poena  videatur  urgere,  sufficiat  ad  abolitionem,  errorem  proprio  damna- 
visse  judicio  et  Dei  omnipotentis  nomen,  inter  ipsa  quoque  pericula 
requisitum  fuisse  c omplexum,  quia  nusquam  debet  in  miseriis  invo- 
catum  religionis  deesse  subsidium.  Ut  igitur  priores  quas  statuimus 
leges  in  excidium  sacrilegarum  mentium  omni  exsecutionis  urgueri  jube- 
mus  effectu,  ita  hos,  qui  simplicis  fidem  religionis  licet  sera  confessione, 
maluerint,  censimus  datis  legibus  non  teneri.  Quae  ideo  sanximus,  quo 
universi  cognoscant  nec  profanis  hominum  studiis  deesse  vindictam  et 
ad  rectum  redundare  cultum,  Icgum  quoque  adesse  suffragium." 


THE  DONATIST  SITUATION  1 23 

Notwithstanding  that  crimes  are  ordinarily  purged  by  penalty, 
nevertheless  we  wish  to  correct  the  depraved  will  of  man  by 
tlie  admonition  of  penitence.  Therefore,  whatever  heretic,  be 
he  Donatist,  Manichaean,  or  of  whatever  depraved  opinion  or 
sect  attached  to  profane  rites,  shall  receive  by  simple  confession 
the  Catholic  faith  and  ceremony,  which  we  desire  shall  be  ob- 
served by  all  men,  even  though  he  may  have  long  cherished 
evil  by  prolonged  and  daily  meditations,  so  much  as  to  appear 
punishable  according  to  the  laws  previously  given,  yet  despite 
all  this,  just  as  soon  as  he  shall  have  confessed  God  in  single- 
ness of  heart,  we  decree  him  absolved  from  all  crime.  For  all 
guilt,  no  m.atter  whether  it  was  committed  before  or  after  we 
forbade  it,  and  even  though  it  would  seem  most  urgently  to 
demand  punishment,  let  it  suffice  for  its  abolition  that  the 
guilty  condemn  their  error  in  their  own  judgment,  and  em- 
brace the  name  of  Almighty  God,  even  though  sought  in 
this  great  peril,  for  the  aid  of  religion  invoked  in  distress  ought 
never  to  fail.  So,  just  as  we  command  that  the  laws  formerly 
decreed  for  curbing  sacrilegious  spirits  be  rigidly  enforced, 
so  we  decree  that  those  who  prefer  the  faith  of  straightforward 
religion,  even  if  it  be  by  a  somewhat  tardy  confession,  shall 
not  be  bound  by  the  laws  laid  down.  We  decree  this  that  al'. 
may  know  that,  punishm.ent  is  not  wanting  for  the  profane 
desires  of  men,  and  that  there  is  ample  support  in  the  laws 
for  the  true  worship. 

This  is  the  same  spirit  as  is  expressed  in  the  constitution 
of  the  twenty-fifth  of  November,  407.  preserved  in  the 
Sirmond  text,  which  reads  : 

The  solicitude  of  religious  men,  priests  of  God,  in  observing 
crimes,  assiduity  in  advising  and  authority  in  teaching,  ought 
alone  to  correct  the  profane  spirits  of  the  heretics  and  the 
superstition  of  the  pagans.  Neither  have  tenets  of  our  laws 
been  lacking,  which  should  bring  back  those  who  stray  to  the 
cult  of  the  omnipotent  God  by  the  imminent  terror  of  punish- 
ment, and  which  should  train  the  ignorant  also  in  divine  ser- 


124 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


vice.  But  truly  this  same  force  of  evil,  mixing  at  the  same 
time  matters  human  and  divine,  now  as  well  as  it  will  in  the 
future,  ruins  many,  deceived  by  the  depraved  persuasions,  and 
destroys  for  God  and  for  us  the  lives  of  the  unfortunate,  which 
it  gives  up  to  the  laws  here  and  forces  to  bear  judgment  here- 
after. Forced  to  this  by  the  pertinacity  of  the  Donatists  and 
the  fury  of  the  pagans,  which  the  culpable  inactivity  of  the 
judges,  the  connivance  of  their  officials  and  the  contempt  of 
law  by  the  city  councils,  we  feel  that  it  is  necessary  to  reit- 
erate our  former  commands.  Wherefore,  we  announce  that 
all  that  had  been  decreed  by  us  under  the  authority  of  gen- 
eral laws  against  the  Donatists,  who  also  are  called  Montenses, 
the  Manichaeans  or  Priscillianists,  or  against  the  pagans, 
shall  not  only  be  confirmed,  but  also  carried  into  full  and  ef- 
fective execution,  so  that  the  buildings  also  of  these  sects,  as 
well  as  of  the  Caelicolae,  who  have  meetings  of  I  know  not 
what  new  dogma,  shall  be  adjudged  to  the  churches.  The 
penalty,  established  by  law,  ought  to  hold  those  as  convicted 
who  shall  have  confessed  themselves  to  be  Donatists  or  who 
shall  have  avnided  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  priests  under 
cover  of  a  sort  of  left-handed  religion,  however  much  they 
pretend  that  they  are  Christians.  Now  yearly  grants  for  the 
temples  are  to  be  stopped,  and  shall  be  used  to  help  to  bear 
the  expenses  of  the  most  devoted  army.  Statues,  if  any  are 
still  standing  in  the  temples  or  sanctuaries,  and  have  received, 
or  are  receiving,  any  rites  of  paganism,  shall  be  taken  from 
their  places,  as  we  know  this  to  have  been  already  very  often 
decreed.  Let  the  buildings  of  those  temples,  which  are  in  the 
cities  or  towns,  or  outside  the  towns,  be  confiscated  to  the  public 
use.  Altars  in  all  places  are  to  be  destroyed  and  all  tem- 
ples in  our  domains  are  to  be  turned  over  to  a  suitable  use; 
masters  shall  be  forced  to  destroy  them.  Nor  is  it  at  all 
lawful  in  more  unholy  places,  in  honor  of  sacrilegious  rites,  to 
have  a  feast  or  to  carry  out  any  sort  of  solemnity.  We  place 
the  right  of  prohibiting  these  acts  in  the  hands  of  the  bishops 
of  the  localities.  We  have  granted  the  powers  of  execution  to 
the  agentes  in  rebus,  Maximus,  Julianus  and  Eutychus,  to 


THE  DONATIST  SITUATION 


125 


carry  out  whatever  has  been  decreed  by  general  laws  against 
the  Donatists,  Manichaeans  and  heretics  of  this  sort,  or  pagans. 
They  are  to  know,  however,  that  the  regular  form  of  law  is  to 
be  preserved  in  all  cases,  that  all  that  may  appear  to  have  been 
done  contrary  to  the  prohibition  shall  immediately  be  turned 
over  to  the  judges  for  judgment  according  to  the  laws.  These 
judges  indeed  shall  be  subject  to  the  penalty  of  a  fine  long 
established  of  twenty  pounds  of  gold  (the  same  being  placed 
against  their  officials  and  city  councils)  if  this  which  we  have 
decreed  shall  have  been  neglected  through  their  dissimulation. 
.  .  .  This  provision  for  controlling  the  manners  and  religion 
of  men  your  sublimity  shall  call  to  the  attention  of  the  rulers 
of  the  provinces  and  command  to  be  observed  with  suitable 
force  for  each  person.^ 

1  Coiistitutioues  Sirmondianae,  12  (  Nov.  25,  407).  "  Profanes  haere- 
ticoruni  spiritus  superstitionemque  gentilium  vel  sola  quidem  reli- 
giosorum  viroruni  sacerdotum  del  in  observendis  sollicitiido  criminibu^, 
sedulitas  in  monendo.  auctoritas  in  docendo  emandare  debuerat.  Nec 
nostrarum  tanien  legum  scita  cessarunt,  quae  in  dei  omnipotentis  cultum 
poenae  etiam  terrore  proposito  reducerent  deviantes,  ignaros  quoque 
in  ministeria  divina  formarent.  Sed  nimirum  ipsa  vis  mali  humana 
pariter  ac  divina  permiscens  deceptos  plerosque  per  siiasionibus  pravis 
tam  in  praesens  quam  in  futurum  inpellit  exitium  et  deo  simul  ac 
nobis  ;)erdit  infelicium  vitas  quas  et  hie  legibiis  dedit  et  illic  cogit 
ferre  judicium.  Conpulsi  igitur  Dona'.istarum  pertinacia.  furore  gen- 
tilium, quae  quidem  mala  desidia  judicum,  coniventia  officiorum,  or- 
dinum  contemptus  accendit,  nesessarium  putamus  iterare  quae  jussimus. 
Quapropter  omnia  quae  in  Donatistas  qui  et  Alontenses  vocantur,  Alani- 
chaeos  sive  Priscillianis'as  vel  in  gentiles  a  nobis  gencralium  legum 
auctoritate  decreta  sunt,  non  solum  manere  decernimus,  varum  in 
exsecutionem  plenissimam  efifectumque  deduci,  ita  ut  aedificia  quoque 
vel  horum  vel  Caelicolarum  etiam  qui  nescio  cuius  dogmatis  novi  con- 
ventus  habent,  ecclesiis  vindicentur.  Poena  vero  lege  proposita  velut 
convictos  tenere  debebit  cos,  qui  Donatistas  se  confessi  fuerint  vel 
Catholicorum  sacerdotum  scaevae  religionis  obtentu  communionein 
refugerint,  quamvis  Christianos  esse  se  sinnilent.  Jam  vero  templorum 
detrahentur  annonae  et  rem  annonariam  juvent  expensis  devotissi- 
morum  m'litum  profuturae.  Simulacra,  si  qua  etiam  nunc  in  templis 
fanisque  consistunt  et  quae  aliquem  ritum  vel  acceperunt  vel  accipiunt 
paganorum,  suis  sedibus  revellantur,  cum  hoc  repetita  sciamus  saepius 


126 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Another  law  of  November  the  fifteenth  '  reads : 

By  these  instructions  we  declare  that  the  privileges  which  the 
authority  of  law  has  granted  to  the  churches  and  clerics  shall 
remain  sacred  and  inviolate.  And  we  grant  to  them  this  extra- 
ordinary and  singular  right,  that  all  that  has  been  specially 
granted  by  us  to  the  church  alone  shall  be  made  known  to  the 
judges  and  executed,  not  by  the  priests,  but  by  advocates  of 
their  own  choice.  But  the  priests  of  the  province  shall  be  on 
their  guard  lest,  under  the  excuse  of  privilege,  to  their  disad- 
vantage, some  inconvenience  be  inflicted  upon  them. 

These  measures  are  the  last  tolerant  acts  of  Stilicho's 

sanctione  decretum.  Aeclificia  ipsa  temploriirn  quae  in  civitatibus  vel 
oppidis  vel  extra  oppida  stint,  ad  usum  publicum  vindicentur.  Aerae 
locis  omnibus  destrunntur  oii:niaque  tenipla  in  possessionibus  nostris 
ad  usus  adcommodos  transferantur,  domini  destruere  cogantur.  Non 
liceat  omnino  in  honorem  sacrilegi  ritus  funestioribus  locis  exercere 
convivia  vel  quicquam  sollemnitatis  agitare.  Episcopis  quoque  loco- 
rum  haec  ipsa  prohibendi  ecclesiasticae  nianus  tribuimus  facultatem. 
Nam  et  agenlum  in  rebus  executionem  Maximi,  Juliani,  Eutachi,  ut  ea, 
quae  generalibus  legibus  contra  Donatistas,  Manichaeos,  adque  huiusce- 
modi  haereticos  vel  gentiles  statuta  sunt,  impleantur,  indulsimus.  Qui 
tamen  scient  in  omnibus  modum  statutorum  esse ,  servandum,  ut  ea, 
quae  contra  vetitum  videntur  esse  commissa  mox  judicibus  juxta  vim 
legum  deferant  vindicanda.  Quos  quidem  viginti  librarum  auri  poena 
statutae  dudum  multae  constringet,  pari  multa  officiis  ordinibusque  pro- 
posita,  si  haec  quae  statuimus  eorum  fuerint  dissimulatione  neglecta. 
.  .  .  Quod  ad  continendos  hominum  mores  religionemque  provisum  et 
ad  rectores  provinciarum  sublimis  magnificentia  tua  faciet  pervenire 
et  digTio  per  omnes  jubebit  vigore  servari." 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  ?.,  38.  "  Porphyrio  Proconsuli  Africae.  Privilegia 
quae  ecclesiis  et  clericis  legum  decrevit  auctoritas,  hac  quoque  prae- 
ceptione  sancta  et  inviolata  permanere  decernimus.  Atque  hoc  ipsis 
praecipuum  ac  singulare  deferimus,  ut,  quaecumque  de  nobis  ad  ec- 
clesiam  tantum  pertinentia,  specialiter  fuerint  impetrata,  non  per 
coronatos,  sed  ab  advocatis  eorum  arbitratu  et  judicibus  innotescant  et 
sortiantur  effectum.  Sacerdotes  vero  provinciae  erunt  solliciti,  ne 
sub  hac  scilicet  privilegii  excusatione  etiam  contra  eorum  utilitatem 
aliquid  his  inferatur  incommodum." 


THE  DONATIST  SITUATION 


127 


regime.  The  Chronicle  of  Hydatius  certainly  overstates  the 
case  when  it  says  that  in  405  unity  was  restored  between 
Catholics  and  Donatists.  Yet  the  fifth  century  opened  with 
the  civil  powers  turning  to  the  active  support  of  the  or- 
thodox. 


CHAPTER  V 


The  Revolution  of  the  Year  408:  Catholic 
Supremacy 

The  political  power  of  the  orthodox  party  was  firmly  es- 
tablished in  Africa  by  the  revolution  of  the  year  408  which 
overthrew  Stilicho  and  his  tolerant  policies.  Indeed,  the 
fall  of  that  minister  was  accomplished  by  the  leaders  of 
the  Christian  party/  who  took  advantage  of  the  trouble- 
some Germanic  invasions  in  order  to  carry  out  their  plans. 
The  crisis  of  the  invasions  seemed  at  last  to  have  arrived. 
The  hordes  of  Radagaisus  were  destroyed  at  Florence  in 
405,  it  is  true,  but  in  the  year  406  the  Alani.  Suevi,  Van- 
dals and  Burgundians  invaded  and  devastated  Gaul.^  Oro- 
sius  says  that  Stilicho  invited  them  into  the  empire  that  he 
might  make  his  pagan  son,  Eucherius,  emperor;  but  his 
statement  is  unsupported  and  probably  is  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  a  Christian  authority  to  discredit  one  who  had  failed 
to  meet  the  demands  of  a  growing  Christian  fanaticism  and 
to  justify  his  murder.  What  is  clear  is  that  the  Germans 
arrived  at  a  time  when  Stilicho's  tolerance  succeeded  in  win- 
ning the  opposition  of  both  Christians  and  pagans.  The 
difficulties  of  the  hour  seem  to  have  called  for  more  vigor- 
ous action  one  way  or  another — and  there  was  really  only 
one  way  left — if  he  was  to  win  adequate  and  reliable  sup- 
port. For  he  had  to  face  not  merely  invasion  but  usurpa- 
tion as  well,  the  revolt  of  allies  and  the  question  of  the  im- 
perial succession.    Constantine  seized  the  purple  in  Eng- 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  32. 
2  Ihid.,  vi,  3 ;  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  38. 
128 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


land,  Gaul  and  Spain ;  ^  Alaric  entered  Italy, ^  demanding 
the  subsidies  due  him;  and  in  this  crisis  Arcadius,  the 
emperor  in  the  East,  died,  leaving  Theodosius  II,  a  child 
of  eight  as  heir  to  the  throne/  It  was  this  question  which 
proved  fatal  to  the  last  statesmanlike  figure  in  the  Roman 
West.  .\  dispute  seems  to  have  developed  between  Honor- 
ius  and  Stilicho  as  to  which  should  go  to  Constantinople 
to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  Western  court.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  disagreement  between  emperor  and  min- 
ister, Stilicho's  enemies  led  by  Olympius,  by  spreading  re- 
ports of  purported  treasonable  plans  on  the  part  of  Stilicho. 
succeeded  in  having  the  Vandals'  supporters  put  to  death, 
even  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor.  Then  Stilicho  him- 
self they  declared  a  traitor  and  public  robber  and  his  ar- 
rest was  ordered.  He  was  dragged  from  the  asylum  of  the 
church  to  which  he  had  fled  and  put  to  death  on  the  charge 
of  high  treason  on  the  twenty-third  of  August,  408.*  His 
son  suffered  the  same  fate. 

The  leader  of  the  revolt  was  Olympius.  an  orthodox 
Christian  and  the  personal  friend  and  follower  of  Augus- 
tine. His  triumph  was  a  victory  for  the  orthodox.^  Al- 
though we  have  no  means  of  knowing  who  had  been  his 
supporters  in  the  revolt,  from  Augustine's  subsequent  con- 
duct we  may  well  infer  that  Zosimus'  statements  to  the 
effect  that  they  were  of  the  true  faith  is  correct.  Augus- 
tine was  in  close  touch  with  Olympius  and  immediately 

1  Orosius,  op.  cit..  vii,  40;  Zos.,  op.  cit..  vi,  2;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  11; 
Olympiodorus,  Frag.,  12. 

-  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  29 ;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  4 ;  Philostorgius,  op.  cit.,  xii,  2. 

^  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vi,  23;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  i  ;  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  v,  31. 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  29-34 ;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  4 ;  Phil.,  op.  cit.,  xii,  3. 

^Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  32,  35. 


I30  POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 

sent  him  letters  of  congratulation  and  advice,  pointing  out 
certain  political  favors  which  Olympius  should  grant  the 
church. 

The  first  of  these  letters  reads : 

Olympius,  My  Lord  greatly  beloved,  and  my  son  worthy  of 
honor  and  regard  as  a  member  of  Christ,  Augustine  sends 
greeting.  Whatever  your  rank  may  be  in  connection  with 
the  course  of  this  world  I  have  the  greatest  confidence  in 
addressing  you  as  my  much  beloved,  true  hearted  Christian 
fellow  servant,  Olympius.  For  I  know  that  this  name  in 
your  esteem  excels  all  other  glorious  and  lofty  titles.  Re- 
ports have  indeed  reached  me  that  you  have  obtained  some 
promotion  in  worldly  affairs,  but  no  information  confirming 
the  truth  of  the  rumor  had  come  to  me  up  to  the  time  when 
this  opportunity  of  writing  to  you  occurred.  Since,  however, 
I  know  that  you  have  learned  from  the  Lord  not  to  mind  high 
things,  but  to  condescend  to  those  who  are  lightly  esteemed 
by  men,  whatever  the  pinacle  to  which  you  have  been  raised, 
we  take  for  granted,  my  lord  greatly  beloved,  and  son  worthy 
of  honor  and  regard  as  a  member  of  Christ,  that  you  will  still 
welcome  a  letter  from  me,  just  as  you  were  wont  to  do.  And 
as  for  your  worldly  prosperity,  I  do  not  doubt  that  you  will 
wisely  use  it  for  eternal  gain;  so  that  the  greater  the  influ- 
ence which  vou  acquire  in  the  commonwealth  on  this  earth, 
the  more  will  you  devote  yourself  to  the  interests  of  the 
heavenly  city  to  which  you  owe  your  birth  in  Christ.  .  .  . 
And  now,  you  are  of  the  same  kindly  disposition  that  you 
were  formerly,  but  possessed  of  greater  influence,  I  do  not 
despair  of  this  being  easily  granted  by  the  Lord's  help,  in 
consideration  of  your  claim  on  the  emperor.  Now  even  if 
you  were  to  ask  the  gift  of  this  property  in  your  own  name, 
and  present  it  to  the  church  of  which  I  have  spoken,  who 
would  find  fault  with  your  request?  Nay,  who  would  not 
commend  it,  as  dictated  not  by  personal  covetousness,  but  by 
Christian  piety  ?  ^ 

•  Aug.,  Ep.,  96,  408. 


THE  REi/OLL  TWN  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


A  second  letter  *  of  the  same  year  shows  that  Augustine 
had  now  got  his  bearings.  He  could  thereupon  formulate 
his  demands.  It  was  an  opportune  time  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  enemies,  and  Olympius  was  to  furnish  the  laws 
for  this.  This  action  of  Augustine's  is  significant  of  the 
changed  position  of  the  church.  We  have  been  following  a 
situation  in  which  the  political  leaders  utilized  the  re- 
ligious struggle  for  their  own  ends,  now  we  find  the  relig- 
ious leaders  utilizing  politics  for  religious  purposes. 

...  I  write,  therefore,  to  salute  you,  and  to  charge  you,  by 
the  love  which  you  have  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  to  see  that 
your  good  work  be  hastened  on  with  the  utmost  diligence,  in 
order  that  the  enemies  of  the  church  may  know  that  those 
laws  concerning  the  demolition  of  idols  and  the  correction  of 
heretics  which  were  sent  into  Africa  while  Stilicho  yet  lived, 
were  framed  by  the  desire  of  our  most  pious  and  faithful 
emperor ;  for  they  either  cunningly  boast,  or  willingly  imagine, 
that  this  was  done  without  his  knowledge,  or  against  his  will,^ 
and  thus  they  render  the  minds  of  the  ignorant  full  of  sedi- 
tious ^•^olence,  and  excite  them  to  dangerous  and  vehement 
enmity  against  us. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  in  submitting  this  in  the  way  of  petition 
or  respectful  suggestion  to  the  consideration  of  your  excel- 
lency, I  act  agreeably  to  the  wishes  of  my  colleagues  through- 
out Africa;  and  I  think  that  it  is  your  duty  to  take  measures, 
as  could  be  easily  done,  on  whatever  opportunity  may  first 
arise,  to  make  it  understood  by  these  vain  men,  (whose  sal- 
vation we  seek,  although  they  resist  us)  that  it  was  to  the 
care,  not  of  Stilicho,  but  of  the  son  of  Theodosius,  that 
those  laws  which  have  been  sent  into  Africa  for  the  defence 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  owed  their  promulgation.  .  .  .  That 
the  province  be  made  to  know  how  the  mind  of  our  most 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  97- 

'  A  false  edict  of  toleration  had  been  circulated.  -Aug.,  Ep.,  105 : 
2,  6. 


132 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


gracious  emperor  stands  toward  the  church,  I  recommend,  nay 
I  beseech,  and  implore  you,  to  take  care  that  no  time  be  lost, 
but  that  its  accomplishment  be  hastened,  even  before  you  see 
the  bishops  who  have  gone  from  us,  so  soon  as  shall  be  pos- 
sible for  you,  in  the  exercise  of  your  most  eminent  vigilance 
on  behalf  of  the  members  of  Christ  who  are  now  in  circum- 
stances of  the  utmost  danger;  for  the  Lord  has  provided  no 
small  consideration  for  us  under  these  trials  seeing  that  it  has 
pleased  Him  to  put  much  more  now  than  formerly  in  your 
power,  although  we  were  already  filled  with  joy  by  the  num- 
ber and  the  magnitude  of  your  good  offices. 

We  rejoice  much  in  the  firm  and  steadfast  faith  of  some, 
and  these  not  few  in  numbers,  who  by  means  of  these  laws 
have  been  converted  to  the  Christian  religion,  or  from  the 
schism  of  the  Catholic  peace,  for  whose  eternal  welfare  we 
are  glad  to  run  the  risk  of  forfeiting  temporal  prosperity. 
For  on  this  account  especially  we  now  have  to  endure  at  the 
hands  of  men,  exceedingly  and  obdurately  perverse,  more 
grievous  assaults  of  enmity,  which  some  of  them  along  with 
us  bear  most  patiently  :  !)ut  we  are  in  great  fear  because  of 
their  weakness,  until  they  learn,  and  are  enabled  by  the  help 
of  the  Lord's  most  compassionate  grace,  to  despise  with  more 
abundant  strength  of  spirit  the  present  world  and  man's  short 
day.  May  it  please  your  highness  to  deliver  the  letter  of  in- 
structions which  I  have  sent  to  my  brethren  the  bishops  when 
they  come,  if,  as  I  suppose,  they  have  not  yet  reached  you. 
For  we  have  such  confidence  in  the  unfeigned  devotion  of 
your  heart,  that  with  the  Lord's  help  we  desire  to  have  you 
not  only  giving  us  your  assistance,  but  also  participating  in 
our  consultations. 

Augustine  was  assuming  the  position  which  he  was  ulti- 
mately to  hold  as  director  of  political  as  well  as  religious 
afifairs. 

In  the  letter  just  quoted,  Augustine  mentions  bishops 
who  had  gone  from  Africa  to  the  emperor.  These  were 
delegates  from  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  councils  of  Car- 


THE  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


thage  who  had  been  sent  to  secure  legislation  for  the  de- 
struction of  paganism  and  heresy.^  As  a  result  of  the 
demands  of  Augustine  and  the  bishops  a  series  of  Dracon- 
ian laws  was  issued.  The  partisans  of  Gildo  were  again 
proscribed.^  Then  by  an  act  of  the  fourteenth  of  Novem- 
ber, all  non-Christians  were  excluded  from  service  in  the 
royal  household.^  "  V\'e  forbid  those  who  are  hostile  to  the 
Catholic  party  to  serve  in  the  palace,  in  order  that  no  one 
be  attached  to  us  in  any  manner  who  differs  from  us  in 
faith  and  religion."  Zosimus  gives  us*  the  following 
(pagan)  account  of  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  this  law. 

Generidus,  although  of  barbarian  extraction  was  in  disposition 
inclined  to  all  virtues  and  was  remarkably  devoid  of  covet- 
ousness.  While  he  adhered  to  ancient  ordinances  and  could 
not  endure  to  relinquish  the  old  mode  of  worshipping  the 
gods,  a  law  was  promulgated,  prohibiting  all  who  were  not 
Christians  from  wearing  a  girdle  at  court.  This  law  being 
established,  Generidus.  who  was  at  that  time  a  military  officer 
at  Rome,  laid  aside  his  girdle  and  remained  in  his  own  house. 
The  emperor  requiring  him,  as  enrolled  ainong  the  officers, 
lO  attend  at  court  in  his  due  course,  he  replied  that  there  was 
a  law  which  forbade  him  the  use  of  the  girdle,  or  that  anyone 
should  be  reckoned  among  the  officers  who  did  not  reverence 
vhe  Christian  religion.  The  emperor  answered  that  the  law 
indeed  was  obligatory  on  all  others  but  excepted  him  alone. 

'  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  926,  Can.  106;  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  158,  Can. 
106.  In  hoc  concilio  Icgationem  iterum  suscepit  Fortunatianus  epis- 
copus  contra  paganos  et  haereticos.  ...  In  hoc  concilio  susceperunt  Icga- 
tionem Restitutus  et  Florentius  episcopi,  contra  paganos  et  haereticos. 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  40,  19. 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5 :  42.  "  Olympio  Magistro  Officiorum  et  Valenti 
Comiti  Domesticorum.  Eos,  qui  catholicae  sectae  sunt  inimici,  intra 
palatium  militare  prohibemus,  ut  nullus  nobis  sit  aliqua  ratione  con- 
junctus,  qui  a  nobis  fide  et  religione  discordat." 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  46. 


134 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


who  had  undertaken  such  dangerous  enterprises  for  the  com- 
monwealth. Generidus  said  in  i-eply  that  he  could  not  suffer 
himself  to  accept  an  honor  that  appeared  to  affront  all  who 
by  means  of  that  law  had  been  put  out  of  commission.  Nor 
did  he  execute  his  office  until  the  emperor  compelled  both  by 
necessity  and  shame  completely  abolished  the  law  and  gave 
to  all  persons  liberty  of  enjoying  their  own  sentiments  in  all 
offices,  whether  military  or  civil. 

A  law  of  the  fifteenth  of  November  renews  the  former  pre- 
scriptions against  heretics  and  gentiles.^  "  We  decree  that 
all  that  has  been  formerly  enacted  by  the  authority  of  gen- 
eral la\vs  against  the  Donatists  (who  also  are  called  Mon- 
tenses^),  Manichaeans  or  Priscillianists  or  aginst  the 
pagans,  not  only  stand  but  indeed  be  carried  into  full  and 
effective  execution ;  that  not  only  their  buildings  but  also 
those  of  the  Caeiicoli  (who  hold  meetings  for  a  sort  of 
dogma  with  Avhich  we  are  not  familiar)  shall  be  adjudged 
to  the  churches.  Indeed  by  this  law,  the  penalty  is  estab- 
lished that  those  ought  to  be  held  as  convicted  who  shall 
have  confessed  themselves  to  be  Donatists,  or  who  shall 
have  avoided  the  Catholic  communion,  under  the  conceal- 
ment of  a  left-handed  sort  of  religion,  even  though  they 
shall  have  simulated  that  they  were  Christians." 

Another  law  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  ad- 
dressed to  Donatus,  the  proconsul  of  Africa,  was  to  repress 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi.  5,  43.  Omnia,  quae  in  Donatistas  (qui  et  Mon- 
tenses  vocantur).  Manichaeos,  sive  Priscillianistas  vel  in  gentiles  a  nobis 
generalium  legum  auctoritate  decreta  sunt,  non  solum  manere  decerni- 
mus,  verum  in  executionem  plenissimani  effectumque  deduci,  ita  ut 
aedificia  quoque  vel  horum  vel  Caelicolarum  etiam  (qui  nescio  cuius 
dogmatis  novi  conventus  habent)  ecclesiis  vindicentur.  Poena  vero 
lege  proposita  veluti  convictos  tenere  debebit  eos,  qui  Donatistas  se 
confessi  fuerint  vel  catholicorum  communionem  refugerint  scaevae 
religionis  obtentu,  quamvis  Christianos  esse  se  simulent.    Cf..  p.  125. 

'  Montenses  was  the  term  by  which  the  Donatists  at  Rome  were 
designated.    Cf.  Jerome,  Chron.,  356. 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


the  Donatists.  It  reads :  *  "  The  new  and  unusual  audacity 
of  the  Donatists.  heretics  and  Jews  shows  that  they  wish  to 
disturb  the  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  faith.  Beware  lest 
this  pest  come  forth  and  spread  further  by  contagion. 
Therefore,  upon  those  who  shall  have  attempted  anything 
that  may  be  adverse  or  contrary  to  the  Catholic  party,  we 
adjudge  that  the  penalty  of  a  just  punishment  be  im- 
posed.'" 

Another  law  of  the  twenty-seventh  of  November  reads : ' 
"  Let  the  defenders,  curials.  and  all  officials  maintain  a 
watch  lest  anyone  who  is  at  variance  with  the  supreme 
ecclesiastical  authority  have  a  chance  for  illicit  meeting  in 
any  city  or  any  remote  part  of  a  territory.  We  decree  that 
these  places  are  to  be  confiscated  no  excuse  being  accepted : 
and  those  who  dare  dispute  these  things  and  to  maintain 
what  the  divine  precept  condemns  are  to  be  outlawed  and 
exiled." 

Finally,  episcopal  courts  were  provided  for.^  "  Let  an 
episcopal  decision  be  valid  for  all  those  who  choose  to  be 
heard  by  the  clergy,  and  we  command  that  that  respect  be 

'  Cod.  Theod..  xvi.  5,  44.  Donatistarum  haereticorum  Judaeorum 
nova  adque  inusitata  detexit  audacia,  quod  catholicae  fidei  velint  sacra- 
menta  turbare.  Quae  pestis  cave  contagione  latius  emanet  ac  profluat. 
In  eos  igitur,  qui  aliquid.  quod  sit  catholicae  sectae  contrarium  adver- 
sumque,  temptaverint,  supplicium  justae  aniniadvers-onis  expromi  prae- 
cipimus.    Cf.  Aug.,  Ep.,  100,  2. 

-  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  45.  Defensorum  curialium  otnniumque  offi- 
ciorum  specula  custodiat,  ne  quis  intra  aliquam  civitatem,  vel  ulla  terri- 
torii  parte  secreta.  qui  ab  ecclesiae  catholico  sacerdote  dissidet,  inlicitae 
coitionis  habeat  facultatem.  Ipsa  etiam  loca  juri  publico  sociari  seclusa 
omni  excusatione  censemus  et  proscribtos  eos  in  exilium  detrudi,  qui 
audent  disputare  ea  et  adserere,  quae  institutio  divina  condemnat. 

^  Cod.  Just.,  i,  4,  8.  Episcopale  judicium  sit  ratum  omnibus  qui  se 
audiri  a  sacerdotibus  elegerint,  eamque  illorum  judication]  adhibendam 
esse  reverentiam  (jubemus).  quam  vestris  referre  necesse  est  potesta- 
tibus  a  quibus  non  licet  provocare.  Per  judicum  quoque  officia,  ne  sit 
cassa  episcopalis  cognitio,  definitioni  executio  tribuatur. 


136 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


paid  to  their  adjudication  which  it  is  necessary  to  attribute 
to  your  powers,  from  which  it  is  not  permitted  to  ap- 
peal. Let  it  be  the  duty  of  the  judges  to  give  execution  to 
the  final  decision,  that  the  episcopal  procedure  may  not  be 
ineffective." 

Hardly  less  significant  than  this  outburst  of  persecutory 
legislation  is  the  change  in  the  attitude  of  Augustine. 
Olympius,  his  orthodox  disciple,  is  in  power  in  place  of  the 
tolerant  Stilicho.  Augustine  takes  a  new  tone;  his  atti- 
tude and  temper  are  in  keeping  with  the  sterner  mood  of 
the  persecutor,  and  the  former  breadth  and  sympathetic 
charity  give  way  to  a  fanatic  zeal  which  was  to  be  a  fatal 
example  for  succeeding  ages.  This  new  spirit  is  shown  in 
a  letter  written  in  the  year  408  and  addressed  to  Vincen- 
tius.^  Its  historical  importance  is  of  the  greatest,  and  were 
it  not  too  long  for  quotation  in  full,  should  be  given  here 
entire. 

The  letter  starts  by  pointing  out  the  dangers  threatening 
the  church  from  the  Donatists,  dangers  which  he  says 
would  justify  their  repression  and  correction  by  the  tem- 
poral powers.  Indeed — and  the  significance  of  this  should 
not  be  lost  in  the  history  of  persecution — he  is  of  the  opin- 
ion that  such  repression  as  there  has  been  has  not  been  with- 
out results. 

The  repression  and  correction  of  [the  Donatists]  by  the 
powers  which  are  ordained  by  God  appears  to  me  to  be  la- 
bor not  in  vain.  For  we  already  rejoice  in  the  correction 
of  many  who  hold  and  defend  the  Catholic  unity  with  such 
sincerity  and  are  so  glad  to  be  delivered  from  their  former 
error,  that  we  admire  them  with  great  thankfulness,  and 
pleasure.  .  .  .  Was  it  my  duty  to  be  displeased  at  the  sal- 
vation of  these  men  and  to  call  back  my  colleagues  from  a 
fatherly  diligence  of  this  kind,  the  result  of  which  has  been, 
that  we  see  many  blaming  their  former  blindness?  .  .  . 


1  Aug.,  Ep.,  93. 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


[To  restrain  and  correct  such  heretics  would  be  returning 
good  for  evil.]  If  we  were  to  overlook  and  forbear  with  those 
cruel  enemies  who  seriously  disturb  our  peace  and  quietness 
by  manifold  and  grievious  forms  of  violence  and  treachery, 
as  that  nothing  at  all  should  be  contrived  and  done  by  us 
with  a  view  to  alarm  and  correct  them,  truly  we  would  be 
rendering  evil  for  evil.  For  if  anyone  saw  his  enemy  run- 
ning headlong  to  destroy  himself  when  he  had  become  delir- 
ious through  a  dangerous  fever,  would  he  not  in  that  case 
be  much  more  truly  rendering  evil  for  evil  if  he  permitted 
him  to  run  on  thus,  than  if  he  took  measures  to  have  him 
seized  and  bound  ?  And  yet  he  would  at  that  moment  appear 
to  the  other  to  be  a  most  vexatious  and  most  like  an  enemy, 
when  in  truth,  he  had  proved  himself  most  useful  and  most 
compassionate:  although,  doubtless,  when  his  health  was  re- 
covered, would  he  express  to  him  his  gratitude  with  a 
warmth  proportionate  to  the  measure  in  which  he  had  felt 
his  refusal  to  indulge  him  in  his  time  of  frenzy.  O,  if  I 
could  but  show'  you  how  many  we  have  even  from  the  Cir- 
cumcellions,  who  are  now  approved  Catholics,  and  condemn 
their  former  life,  and  the  wretched  delusion  under  which 
they  believed  that  they  were  doing  in  behalf  of  the  Church 
of  God  whatever  they  did  under  the  prompting  of  a  restless 
temerity,  who  nevertheless  would  not  have  been  brought  to  this 
soundness  of  judgment  had  they  not  been  as  persons  beside 
themselves,  bound  with  the  cords  of  the  laws  which  arc  dis- 
tasteful to  you.  As  to  another  form  of  most  serious  dis- 
temper,— that  namely,  of  those  who  had  not  indeed,  a  bold- 
ness leading  to  acts  of  violence,  but  were  pressed  down  by 
a  kind  of  inveterate  sluggishness  of  mind,  and  would  say  to 
us,  "What  you  affirm  is  true,  nothing  can  be  said  against  it ; 
but  it  is  hard  for  us  to  leave  off  what  we  have  received  from 
our  fathers  ",  why  should  not  such  persons  be  shaken  up  in  a 
beneficial  way  by  a  law  bringing  upon  them  inconveniences 
in  worldly  things,  in  order  that  they  might  rise  from  their 
lethargic  sleep  and  awake  to  the  salvation  which  is  to  be 
found  in  the  unity  of  the  church?    How  many  of  them  re- 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


joicing  with  us,  speak  bitterly  of  the  weight  with  which  their 
ruinous  course  formerly  oppressed  them,  and  confess  that  it 
was  our  duty  to  inflict  annoyances  upon  them,  in  order  to 
prevent  them  from  perishing  under  the  disease  of  lethargic 
habit,  as  under  a  fatal  sleep.  .  .  . 

[Instruction  and  a  wholesome  fear  should  go  hand  in 
hand.]  But  you  ought  to  consider  also  the  very  large 
number  over  whose  salvation  we  rejoice.  For  if  they 
were  only  made  afraid,  not  instructed,  this  might  ap>- 
pear  to  be  a  kind  of  inexcusable  tyranny.  Again,  if 
they  were  instructed  only,  not  not  made  afraid,  they 
would  be  with  more  difficulty  persuaded  to  embrace  the  way 
of  salvation,  having  hardened  through  inveteracy  of  custom, 
whereas  many  whom  we  have  known  well,  when  arguments 
have  been  brought  before  them,  and  the  truth  made  apparent 
by  testimonials  from  the  word  of  God,  answered  us  that  they 
desired  to  pass  into  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  Church 
but  were  in  fear  of  the  violence  of  worthless  men,  whose 
enmity  they  would  incur ;  which  violence  they  ought  by  all 
means  to  despise  when  it  was  to  be  borne  for  righteousness' 
sake  and  for  the  sake  of  eternal  life.  Nevertheless,  the  weak- 
ness of  such  men  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  hopeless,  but 
to  be  supported  until  they  gain  strength.  .  .  .  When  how- 
ever, wholesome  instruction  is  added  to  means  of  inspiring 
salutary  fear,  so  that  not  only  the  light  of  truth  may  dis- 
pell the  darkness  of  error,  but  the  force  of  fear  may  at  the 
same  time  break  the  bonds  of  evil  custom,  we  are  made  glad. 
.  .  .  by  the  salvation  of  many.  .  .  . 

[It  is  not  a  sign  of  enmity  to  punish.]  Not  everyone  who  is 
indulgent  is  a  friend ;  nor  is  everyone  an  enemy  who  smites. 
Better  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend  than  the  proffered  kisses  of 
an  enemy.  It  is  better  with  severity  to  love,  than  with  gentle- 
ness to  deceive.  More  good  is  done  by  taking  away  food  from 
one  who  is  hungry,  if,  through  freedom  from  care  as  to  his 
food,  he  is  forgetful  of  righteousness,  than  by  providing  bread 
for  one  who  is  hungry,  in  order  that,  being  thereby  bribed, 
he  may  consent  to  unrighteousness.    He  who  binds  the  man 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408  139 

who  is  in  a  frenzy,  and  he  who  stirs  up  the  man  who  is  in  a 
lethargy,  are  alike  vexatious  to  both,  and  are  in  both  cases 
alike  prompted  by  love  for  the  patient.  Who  can  love  us 
more  than  God  does?  And  yet  He  not  only  gives  us  sweet 
instruction,  but  also  quickens  us  by  salutary  fear,  and  this 
unceasingly.  Often  adding  to  the  soothing  remedies  by  which 
He  comforts  men  the  sharp  medicine  of  tribulation,  He  afflicts 
with  famine  even  the  pious  and  devout  patriarchs,  disquiets 
a  rebellious  people  by  more  severe  chastisements,  and  refuses, 
Jiough  twice  besought  to  take  away  tl;e  thorn  in  the  flesh 
!  £  the  apostle,  that  He  may  make  His  strength  perfect  in 
weakness.  Let  us  by  all  means  love  even  our  enemies.  .  .  . 
'.et  us  in  like  manner  ponder  His  correction  of  those  whom 
He  loves. 

You  are  of  the  opinion  that  no  one  sliould  be  compelled  to 
follow  righteousness :  and  yet  you  read  that  the  householder 
said  to  his  servants,  "  Whomsoever  ye  shall  find,  compel  him 
to  come  in."  You  also  read  how  he  who  was  at  the  first 
.Saul  and  afterwards  Paul,  was  compelled  by  the  great  vio- 
lence with  which  Christ  coerced  him  to  know  and  to  embrace 
the  truth ;  for  you  cannot  but  think  that  the  light  which  your 
eyes  enjoy  is  more  precious  to  men  than  money  or  any  other 
possession.  This  light  lost  suddenly  by  him  when  he  was 
cast  to  the  ground  by  the  heavenly  voice,  he  did  not  re- 
cover until  he  became  a  member  of  Holy  Church.  Vou  arc 
also  of  opinion  that  no  coercion  is  to  be  used  with  any- 
one in  order  to  his  deliverance  from  the  fatal  consequences 
of  error.  .  .  .  You  know  also  that  sometimes  the  thief  scat- 
ters food  before  the  flock  that  he  may  lead  them  astray  and 
sometimes  the  shepherd  brings  wandering  sheep  back  to  the 
flock  with  his  rod.  .  .  .  Let  us  learn,  my  brother,  in  actions 
which  are  similar  to  distinguish  the  intentions  of  the  agents : 
and  let  us  not,  shutting  our  eyes,  deal  in  groundless  reproaches 
and  accuse  those  who  seek  man's  welfare  as  if  they  did  them 
wrong."  .  .  . 

[The  question  of  the  righteousness  of  the  persecution 
lies  in  the  object  to  be  obtained.]     If  to  suffer  persecu- 


I40  POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 

tion  were  in  all  cases  a  praiseworthy  thing,  it  would  have 
sufficed  for  the  Lord  to  say,  "  Blessed  are  they  which  are 
persecuted ",  without  adding,  "  for  righteousness  sake." 
Moreover,  if  to  inflict  persecution  were  in  all  cases  blame- 
worthy, it  would  have  been  written  in  the  sacred  books, 
"  Whoso  privily  slandereth  his  neighbor,  him  will  I  perse- 
cute.'" In  some  cases  therefore  both  he  that  suffers  perse- 
cution is  in  the  wrong  and  he  that  inflicts  it  is  in  the 
right.   .   .  . 

[Appealing  to  the  emperors  for  power  to  repress  is  justi- 
fied.] You  say  that  no  example  is  found  in  the  writings 
of  the  evangelists  and  apostles,  of  any  petition  presented  on 
behalf  of  the  Church  to  the  kings  of  the  earth  against  her 
enemies.  Who  denies  tliis?  None  such  is  found.  But  at 
that  time  rhc  propliccy,  ISe  wise  now,  therefore,  O  ye 
Kings;  be  ye  instructed,  O  ye  judges  of  the  earth;  serve  the 
Lord  with  fear,"  was  not  yet  fulfilled.  ...  In  the  age  of  the 
apostles  and  martyrs,  that  was  fulfilled  which  was  prefigured 
when  the  aforesaid  king,  Nebuchadnezzar,  compelled  pious 
and  just  men  to  bow  down  to  his  image,  and  cast  into  the 
flames  all  those  who  refused.  Now,  however,  is  fulfiiUed  that 
which  was  prefigured  soon  after  in  the  same  king  when  be- 
ing converted  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  he  made  a  de- 
cree throughout  his  empire,  that  whosoever  should  speak 
against  the  God  of  Shadrack,  Meshack  and  Abednago,  should 
suffer  the  penalty  which  their  crime  deserved.  The  earliest 
time  of  that  king  represented  the  former  age  of  emperors  who 
did  not  believe  in  Christ,  at  whose  hands  the  Christians 
suffered  because  of  the  wicked;  but  the  later  time  of  that  king 
represented  the  age  of  the  successors  to  the  imperial  throne, 
now  believing  in  Christ  at  whose  hands  the  wicked  suffer 
because  of  the  Christians. 

It  is  manifest,  however,  that  moderate  severity,  or  rather 
clemency,  is  carefully  observed  toward  those  who,  under  the 
Christian  name,  have  been  lead  astray  by  perverse  men,  in  the 
measures  used  to  prevent  them  who  are  Christ's  sheep  from 
wandering  and  to  bring  them  back  to  the  flock,  when  by  pun- 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


141 


ishments,  such  as  exiles,  and  fines,  they  are  admonished  to 
consider  what  they  suffer  and  wherefore,  and  are  taught  to 
prefer  the  Scriptures  which  they  read  to  human  legends  and 
calumnies.  For  which  of  us,  yea.  which  of  you,  does  not 
speak  well  of  the  laws  issued  by  the  emperors  against  heathen 
sacrifices?  In  these  assuredly,  a  penalty  much  more  severe 
has  been  appointed,  for  the  punishment  of  that  impiety  is 
death.  But  in  repressing  and  restraining  you,  the  thing  aimed 
at  has  been  rather  that  you  should  be  admonished  to  depart 
evil,  than  that  you  should  be  punished  for  a  crime.  .  .  You 
are  all  alike  restrained  with  a  comparatively  gentle  severity, 
as  being  not  so  far  alienated  from  us.  And  this  I  may  say, 
both  concerning  all  heretics  without  distinction,  who,  while 
retaining  the  Christian  sacraments,  are  dissenters  from  the 
I  ruth  and  unity  of  Christ,  and  concerning  all  Donatists  with- 
out exception.  .  . 

[The  Donatist  party  itself  has  been  active  in  seeking 
imperial  aid.]  As  to  the  obtaining  or  putting  in  force 
of  edicts  of  the  powers  of  this  world  against  schismatics 
and  heretics  those  from  whom  you  separated  yourselves  were 
very  active  in  this  matter,  both  against  you.  so  far  as  we 
have  heard,  and  against  the  followers  of  Maximianus,  as  wc 
prove  by  the  indisputable  evidence  of  their  own  records.  .  .  . 
If  not  even  that  which  is  just  is  to  be  sought  by  appeal  to 


an  emperor,  why  was  that  which  was  hy  you  supposed  to  h/  Jt' 


just  sought  from  Julian?  / 

Do  you  reply  that  it  is  lawful  to  petition  the  emperor  in 
order  to  recover  what  is  one's  own,  but  not  lawful  to  accuse 
another  in  order  that  he  may  be  coerced  by  the  emperor?  I 
may  remark,  in  passing,  that  in  even  petitioning  for  tlie  re- 
covery of  what  is  one's  own,  the  ground  covered  by  apostolic 
example  is  abandoned,  becau.se  no  apostle  is  found  to  have 
done  even  this.   .  .  . 

[The  end  to  which  one  is  to  be  coerced  should  determine 
the  persecution.]  You  now  see,  I  suppose,  that  the  thing 
to  be  considered  when  anyone  is  coerced,  is  not  the  mere 
fact  of  coercion,  but  the  nature  of  that  to  which  he  is  co- 


142 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


erced,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad ;  not  that  anyone  can  be 
good  in  spite  of  his  own  will,  but  that,  through  fear  of  suf- 
fering what  he  does  not  desire,  he  either  renounces  his  hostile 
prejudices,  or  is  compelled  to  examine  truth  of  which  he 
has  been  contentedly  ignorant;  and  under  the  influence  of 
this  fear  repudiates  the  errors  which  he  was  wont  to  defend, 
or  seeks  the  truth  of  which  he  formerly  knew  nothing,  and 
now  willingly  holds  what  he  formerly  rejected.  Perhaps  it 
would  be  utterly  useless  to  assert  this  in  words,  if  it  were 
not  demonstrated  by  so  many  examples.  We  see  not  a  few 
men  here  and  there,  but  many  cities,  once  Donatist,  now 
Catholic,  vehemently  detesting  the  diabolical  schism,  and 
ardently  loving  the  unity  of  the  church ;  and  these  became 
Catholic  under  the  influence  of  that  fear  which  is  to  you  so 
ofifensive  by  the  laws  of  the  emperors,  from  Constantine,  be- 
fore whom  your  party  of  their  own  accord  impeached 
Caecilianus,  down  to  the  emperors  of  our  own  time,  who  most 
justly  decree  that  the  decisions  of  the  judge  whom  your  own 
party  chose  and  whom  they  preferred  to  a  tribunal  of  bishops, 
should  be  maintained  in  force  against  you. 

[Augustine  confesses  that  he  had  but  slowly  arrived  at  this 
position.]  I  have  yielded,  therefore,  to  the  evidence  afforded 
by  these  instances  which  my  colleagues  have  laid  before  me. 
For  originall}^  my  opinion  was  that  no  one  should  be  coerced 
into  the  unity  of  Christ,  that  we  must  act  only  by  words,  fight 
only  by  arguments,  and  prevail  by  force  of  reason,  lest  we 
should  have  those  whom  we  knew  as  avowed  heretics  feign- 
ing themselves  to  be  Catholics.  But  this  opinion  of  mine 
was  overcome,  not  by  the  words  of  those  who  controverted 
it,  but  by  the  conclusive  instances  to  which  they  could  point. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  there  was  set  over  against  my  opinion 
my  own  town,  while  although  it  was  once  wholly  on  the  side 
of  Donatus,  was  brought  to  the  Catholic  unity  by  fear  of  the 
imperial  edicts,  but  which  we  now  see  filled  with  such  de- 
testation of  your  ruinous  perversity,  that  it  would  scarcely  be 
believed  that  it  had  ever  been  involved  in  your  error.  There 
are  so  many  others  which  were  mentioned  to  me  by  name. 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


that,  from  facts  themselves,  1  was  made  to  own  that  to  this 
matter  the  word  of  Scripture  might  be  understood  as  apply- 
ing :  "  Give  opportunity  to  a  wise  man  and  he  will  be  yet 
wiser."  For  how  many  were  already,  as  we  assuredly  know, 
willing  to  be  Catholics,  being  moved  by  the  indisputable  plain- 
ness of  truth,  but  daily  putting  oft  tlieir  avowal  of  this  through 
fear  of  offending  their  own  party,  flow  many  were  bound 
not  by  truth — for  you  never  pretended  to  that  as  yours — but 
by  the  heavy  chains  of  inveterate  custom,  so  that  in  them 
was  fulfilled  the  divine  saying,  "A  servant  (who  is  hardened) 
will  not  be  corrected  by  words ;  for  though  he  understand 
he  will  not  answer."  How  many  supposed  the  sect  of  Donatus 
to  be  the  true  church,  merely  because  ease  had  made  them 
too  listless,  or  conceited,  or  sluggish,  to  take  pains  to  examine 
Catholic  truth.  How  many  would  have  entered  earlier  had 
not  the  calumnies  of  slanderers  who  declared  that  we  oiYered 
something  else  than  we  do  upon  the  altar  of  God,  shut  them 
out !  How  many,  believing  that  it  mattered  not  to  what  party 
a  Christian  belonged,  remained  in  the  schism  of  Donatus 
only  because  they  had  been  born  in  it,  and  no  one  was  com- 
pelling them  to  forsake  it  and  pass  over  into  the  Catholic 
Church. 

To  all  these  classes  of  persons  the  dread  of  those  laws  in 
the  promulgation  of  which  kings  served  the  Lord  in  fear,  has 
been  so  useful,  that  now  some  say  we  were  willing  for 
this  some  time  ago ;  but  thanks  to  God  who  has  given  us 
occasion  for  doing  it  at  once,  and  has  cut  off  the  hesitancy 
of  procrastination.  Others  say,  V\  c  already  knew  this  to  be 
true  but  we  were  held  prisoners  by  the  force  of  old  custom ; 
thanks  be  to  the  Lord,  who  has  broken  these  bonds  asunder; 
and  has  brought  us  into  the  bond  of  peace.  Others  say,  We 
knew  not  that  the  truth  was  here,  and  we  had  no  wish  to 
learn  it;  but  fear  made  us  become  earnest  to  examine  it 
when  we  became  alarmed,  lest,  without  any  gain  in  things 
eternal,  we  should  be  smitten  with  loss  in  things  temporal; 
thanks  be  to  the  Lord,  who  has  by  the  stimulus  of  fear 
startled  us  from  our  negligence,  that  now  being  disquieted  we 


144 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


might  inquire  into  tliose  things  which,  when  at  ease,  we  did 
not  care  to  know.  Others  say,  We  were  prevented  from 
entering  the  chiirch  by  false  repoi'ts,  which  we  could  not 
know  to  be  false  unless  we  entered  it;  and  we  would  not  enter 
unless  we  were  compelled ;  thanks  be  to  the  Lord,  who  by  this 
scourge  took  away  our  timid  hesitation,  and  taught  us  to  find 
out  for  ourselves  how  vain  and  absurd  were  the  lies  which 
rumor  had  spread  abroad  against  His  church;  by  this  we  are 
persuaded  that  there  is  no  truth  in  the  accusations  made  by 
the  authors  of  this  heresy,  since  the  more  seriotis  charges 
which  their  followers  have  invented  are  without  foundations. 
Others  say,  We  thought,  indeed,  that  it  mattered  not  in  what 
communion  we  held  the  faith  of  Christ ;  but  thanks  to  the 
Lord  who  has  gathered  us  in  from  a  state  of  schism,  and  has 
taught  us  that  it  is  fitting  tliat  the  one  God  be  worshipped  in 
unity. 

Could  I,  therefore,  in  opposition  to  my  colleagues  and  by 
resisting  them  stand  in  the  way  of  such  conquests  of  the 
Lord,  and  prevent  the  sheep  of  Christ  which  were  wandering 
on  your  mountains  and  hills — that  is,  on  the  swellings  of  your 
pride, — from  being  gathered  into  the  fold  of  peace,  in  which 
there  is  one  flock  and  one  shepherd.  Was  it  my  duty  to  ob- 
struct these  measures,  in  order,  forsooth,  that  you  might  not 
lose  what  you  call  your  own,  and  might  without  fear  rob 
Christ  of  what  is  His ;  that  you  might  frame  your  testaments 
according  to  the  Roman  law  and  might  by  calumnious  accusa- 
tions break  the  Testament  made  with  the  sancion  of  Divine 
law  to  the  Fathers,  in  which  it  is  written,  "  In  thy  seed  shall 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed  " ;  that  you  might  have 
freedom  in  your  transactions  in  the  way  of  buying  and  sell- 
ing, and  might  be  emboldened  to  divide  and  claim  as  your 
own  that  which  Christ  bought  by  giving  Himself  as  its  price: 
that  any  gift  made  over  by  one  of  you  to  another  might  re- 
main unchallenged,  and  that  the  gift  which  God  of  Gods  has 
bestowed  upon  His  children,  called  from  the  rising  of  the  sun 
to  the  going  down  thereof,  might  become  invalid;  that  you 
might  not  be  sent  into  exile  from  the  land  of  your  natural 


THE  REVOLUTION  OF  THE  YEAR  408 


145 


birth,  and  that  you  might  labor  to  banish  Christ  from  the 
kingdom  bought  with  His  blood,  which  extends  from  sea  to  sea 
and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth?  Nay  verily, 
let  the  kings  of  the  earth  serve  Christ  by  making  laws 
for  Him  and  for  His  Cause.  Your  predecessors  exposed 
Caecilianus  and  his  companions  to  be  punished  by  the  kings  of 
the  earth  for  crimes  with  which  they  were  falsely  charged ; 
let  the  lions  now  be  turned  to  break  in  pieces  the  bones  of 
the  calumniators,  and  let  no  intercession  for  them  be  made 
by  Daniel  when  he  has  been  proved  innocent,  and  set  free 
from  the  den  in  which  they  meet  their  doom;  for  he  that 
prepareth  a  pit  for  his  neighbor  shall  himself  most  justly 
fall  into  it.   .  .  . 

[History  affords  precedents  in  the  cases  of  Jews  and  pagans.] 
You  profess,  nevertheless,  to  be  afraid  lest  when  you  are 
compelled  by  imperial  edicts  to  consent  to  unity  the  name  of 
God  be  for  a  longer  time  blasphemed  by  the  Jews  and  the 
heathen :  as  if  the  Jews  were  not  aware  how  their  own  nation 
Israel,  in  the  beginning  of  its  history  wished  to  exterminate 
by  war  the  two  tribes  and  a  half  which  had  received  pos- 
sessions beyond  the  Jordan,  when  they  thought  that  these  had 
separated  themselves  from  the  unity  of  their  nation.  As  to 
the  pagans,  they  may  indeed  with  greater  reason  reproach 
us  for  the  laws  which  Christian  emperors  have  enacted  against 
idolaters,  and  yet  many  of  those  have  thereby  been  and  are 
now  daily  turned  from  idols  to  the  living  and  true  God. 

The  earlier  tolerant  policies  of  Augustine  came  in  later 
years  to  be  forgotten.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  numer- 
ous instances  where  members  of  the  church,  wishing  to  jus- 
tify acts  of  intolerance,  refer  to  this  letter  of  the  bishop  of 
Hippo.  Six  months  after  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, in  the  year  1573,  the  brother  of  Charles  IX,  Henry 
of  Anjou,  later  to  become  Henry  III,  arrived  in  the  city 
of  Cracow  in  Poland.  While  there,  during  the  night,  he 
sent  for  his  doctor  named  Miron  and  said  to  him,  "  I  have 


146 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


sent  for  you  to  share  my  restlessness  and  agitation  of  this 
night  as  my  repose  is  troubled  in  thinking  of  the  execution 
of  St.  Bartholomew,  of  which  possibly  you  have  not  known 
the  truth,  such  as  I  now  would  tell  you."  He  then  re- 
counted the  story  of  the  facts  and  the  part  he  took.  Miron 
wrote  it  down.  He  could  justify  himself  by  the  fact  that  St. 
Bartholomew  was  authorized  by  the  principles  of  the  Bishop 
of  Hippo.  We  have  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  a  vol- 
ume published  in  1573,  entitled,  Epistre  de  st.  Augustin  d 
Vincent,  fort  convenahle  au  temps  present,  tant  pour  re- 
duire  et  remettre  a  I'unite  de  I'eglise  les  heretiqiies,  comme 
pour  y  maintenir  ceiix  qui  y  sont  demeures.  This  was 
written  by  one  of  the  assassins.  Boussuet  repeats  in  his 
Defense  de  la  tradition  et  des  saints  peres  (book  VI,  ch. 
21),  the  words  of  a  Jesuit  of  the  times  of  Louis  XIV, 
Etienne  Deschamps,  who  calls  Augustine,  la  langiie  de  la 
verite,  I'arsenal  de  I'eglise,  I' oracle  des  treize  siecles. 

After  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  Ferrand,  a 
lawyer,  published  in  Paris  (1686)  a  manifesto  entitled.  La 
Condnite  du  roi  a  I'egard  des  protestans  semblable  a  la 
condiiite  de  I'empereur  Honoriits  et  de  Saint  Augustin  a 
I'egard  des  donatistes} 

'  Saint  Rene  Taillandier,  Saint  Augustine  et  la  Liberte  de  Conscience, 
Revue  des  seux  Mondes,  July  15,  1862,  Paris.  M.  Ad.  Schaeffer, 
Essai  sur  I'avenir  de  la  tolerance  (Paris,  1862),  180. 


CHAPTER  VI 


Augustine's  Relations  with  Paganism  after  the 
Year  408 

In  Africa  the  fall  of  Stilicho  and  the  absolute  control 
given  thereby  to  the  orthodox  through  new  laws  and  lead- 
ers caused  the  religious  struggle  to  burst  forth  in  actual 
hostilities.  Despite  the  laws  against  their  holidays  the 
pagans  at  Calama  observed  the  first  day  of  June.  When 
the  clergy  tried  to  stop  this  they  were  driven  away ;  where- 
upon they  appealed  to  the  magistrates  of  the  city  whose 
business  it  should  have  been  to  enforce  the  law.  When 
these  officials  attempted  to  issue  restraining  orders,  the 
pagans  attacked  the  church.  Rioting  continued  through- 
out the  next  day,  ecclesiastical  buildings  were  burned,  a 
cleric  was  killed  and  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  including  the 
bishop,  escaped  death  only  by  flight.  Since  the  authorities 
did  not  repress  the  mob  or  aid  the  clergy,  the  Church  took 
measures  looking  to  the  punishment  of  the  outrage.  We 
have  the  correspondence  which  passed  between  Nectarius,  a 
leading  pagan  of  Calama,  and  Augustine  relative  to  this 
incident.  Nectarius  saw  that  clemency,  if  it  were  to  be  ob- 
tained at  all,  must  be  sought  through  the  African  leader, 
Augustine ;  so  he  wrote :  ^ 

Now  my  Lord  most  excellent  and  worthy  of  all  esteem,  this 
town  has  fallen  disastrously  by  a  grievous  misdemeanor  on  the 
part  of  her  citizens,  which  must  be  punished  with  very  great 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  90  (408  A.  D.). 

147 


148 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


severity,  if  we  are  dealt  with  according  to  the  rigor  of  the 
civil  law.  But  a  bishop  is  guided  by  another  law.  His  duty 
is  to  promote  the  welfare  of  men,  to  interest  himself  in  any 
case  only  with  a  view  to  the  benefit  of  the  parties,  and  to  ob- 
tain for  other  men  the  pardon  of  their  sins  at  the  hand  of 
Almighty  God.  Wherefore  I  beseech  you  with  all  possible 
urgency  to  secure  that,  if  the  matter  is  to  be  made  the  subject 
of  a  prosecution,  the  guiltless  be  protected  and  a  distinction 
drawn  between  the  innocent  and  those  who  did  the  wrong. 
This,  which,  as  you  see,  is  a  demand  in  accordance  with  your 
own  natural  sentiments,  I  pray  you  to  grant.  An  assessment 
to  compensate  for  the  losses  caused  by  the  tumult  can  easily  be 
levied.   We  only  deprecate  the  severity  of  revenge. 

To  this  Augustine  replied :  ^ 

Consider  now  whether  you  would  prefer  to  see  your  country 
flourish  by  the  piety  of  its  inhabitants,  or  by  escaping  the  pun- 
ishment of  their  crimes. .  .  He  (God)  hath  both  foretold  and 
commanded  the  casting  down  of  the  images  of  the  many  false 
Gods  which  are  in  the  world.  For  nothing  so  eflfectually  ren- 
ders men  depraved  in  practice,  and  unfit  to  be  good  members 
of  society,  as  the  imitation  of  such  dieties  as  are  described  and 
extolled  in  pagan  writings.  .  .  .  We  have  heard  within  the 
last  few  days  that  such  interpretations  (non-literal)  are  now 
read  to  the  people  when  they  assemble  in  the  temples.  .  .  . 

We  are  therefore  resolved,  neither  on  the  one  hand  to  lay 
aside  Christian  gentleness,  nor  on  the  other  to  leave  in  your 
city  that  which  would  be  a  most  pernicious  example  for  all 
others  to  follow.  .  .  . 

You  cannot  in  that  community  (Calama)  draw  a  distinction 
between  innocent  and  guilty  persons,  for  all  are  guilty;  but 
perhaps  you  may  distinguish  degrees  of  guilt.  Those  are  in 
comparatively  small  fault,  who,  being  kept  back  by  fear,  es- 
pecially by  fear  of  ofifending  those  whom  they  knew  to  have 
leading  influence  in  the  community  and  to  be  hostile  to  the 

>  Aug.,  Ep.,  91  (408  A.  D.) . 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  149 

Church,  did  not  dare  to  render  assistance  to  the  Christians; 
but  all  are  guilty  who  consented  to  these  outrages,  though 
they  neither  perpetrated  them  nor  instigated  others  to  the 
crime ;  more  guilty  are  those  who  perpetrated  the  wrong,  and 
most  guilty  are  those  who  instigated  them  to  it.  Let  us,  how- 
ever, suppose  that  the  instigation  of  others  to  these  crimes 
is  a  matter  of  suspicion  rather  than  of  certain  knowledge,  and 
let  us  not  investigate  those  things  which  can  be  found  out  in 
no  other  way  than  by  subjecting  witnesses  to  torture.  Let  us 
also  forgive  those  who  through  fear  thought  it  better  for 
them  to  plead  secretly  with  God  for  the  bishop  and  His  other 
ser\'ants,  than  openly  to  displease  the  powerful  enemies  of  the 
Church.  What  reason  can  you  give  for  holding  that  those 
who  remain  should  be  subjected  to  no  correction  and  re- 
straint? .  .  .  Now  wicked  men  have  something  in  respect  to 
which  they  may  be  punished  and  that  by  Christians,  in  a 
merciful  way,  and  so  as  to  promote  their  own  profit  and  well- 
being.  For,  they  have  these  three  things:  life  and  health  of 
the  body,  the  means  of  supporting  that  life,  and  the  means  and 
opportunities  of  living  a  wicked  life.  Let  the  two  former  re- 
main untouched  in  the  possession  of  those  who  repent  of  their 
crimes :  this  we  desire,  and  this  we  spare  no  pains  to  secure. 
But  as  to  the  third,  upon  it  God  will,  if  it  please  Him,  inflict 
punishment  in  His  great  compassion,  dealing  with  it  as  a  de- 
caying and  diseased  part,  which  must  be  removed  with  the 
pruning-knife.  .  .  . 

When  I  went  recently  to  Calama  ...  I  used  all  my  influ- 
ence with  the  Christians  to  persuade  them  to  do  what  I 
judged  to  be  their  duty  at  that  time.  I  then  at  their  request 
admitted  to  an  audience  the  pagans  also,  the  source  and  cause 
of  all  this  mischief,  in  order  that  I  might  admonish  them  what 
they  should  do  if  they  were  wise,  not  only  for  the  removal 
of  the  present  anxiety,  but  also  for  the  obtaining  of  eternal  sal- 
vation. They  listened  to  many  things  which  1  said,  and  they 
preferred  many  requests  to  me;  but  far  be  it  from  me  to  be 
such  a  servant  as  to  find  pleasure  in  being  petitioned  by  those 
who  do  not  humble  themselves  before  my  Lord  to  ask  from 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Him.  .  .  As  for  the  loss  sustained,  this  is  either  borne  by  the 
Christians  or  remedied  by  their  brethren.  What  concerns  us 
is  the  gaining  of  souls,  which  even  at  the  risk  of  life,  we  are 
impatient  to  secure ;  and  our  desire  is  that  in  your  district  we 
may  have  larger  success,  and  that  in  other  districts  we  may  not 
be  hindered  by  the  influence  of  your  example. 

The  case  dragged  on  and  so  the  next  year  Nectarius 
again  took  up  the  matter,  writing  to  Augustine  as  follows  •} 

The  last  statement  in  your  Excellency's  letter  was,  that  neither 
capital  punishment  nor  bloodshed  is  demanded  in  order  to 
compensate  for  the  wrong  done  to  the  Church,  but  that  the 
offenders  must  be  deprived  of  the  possessions  which  they  most 
fear  to  lose.  But  in  my  deliberate  judgment,  though,  of 
course,  I  may  be  mistaken,  it  is  a  more  grievous  thing  to  be 
deprived  of  one's  property  than  to  be  deprived  of  life,  .  .  . 
for  it  is  worse  to  live  miserably  than  to  put  an  end  to  our 
miseries  by  death. 

Again,  as  to  the  degree  of  demerit  in  the  faults  of  some  as 
compared  with  others,  it  is  of  no  importance  what  the  quality 
of  the  fault  may  seem  to  be  in  a  case  in  which  forgiveness  is 
craved.  For,  in  the  first  place,  if  penitence  procures  forgive- 
ness and  expiates  the  crime — and  surely  he  is  penitent  who 
begs  pardon  and  humbly  embraces  the  feet  of  the  party  whom 
he  has  offended — and  if,  moreover,  as  is  the  opinion  of  some 
philosophers,  all  faults  are  alike,  pardon  ought  to  be  bestowed 
upon  all  without  distinction. 

...  I  beg  and  implore  you  (Oh  that  I  were  in  your  pres- 
ence that  you  might  also  see  my  tears!)  to  consider  again  and 
again  who  you  are,  what  is  your  professed  character,  and  what 
is  the  business  to  which  your  life  is  devoted.  Reflect  upon 
the  appearance  presented  by  a  town  from  which  men  doomed 
to  torture  are  dragged  forth ;  think  of  the  lamentations  of  the 
mothers  and  wives,  of  sons  and  fathers ;  think  of  the  shame 
felt  by  those  who  may  return,  set  at  liberty  indeed,  but  hav- 


'  Aug.,  Ep.,  103  (409  A.  D.). 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  151 

ing  undergone  the  torture ;  think  what  sorrow  and  groaning 
the  sight  of  their  wounds  and  scars  must  renew.  And  again 
when  you  have  pondered  all  these  things,  first  think  of  God, 
and  think  of  your  good  name  among  men ;  or  rather  think  of 
what  friendly  charity  and  the  bond  of  common  humanity  re- 
quire at  your  hands,  and  seek  to  be  praised  not  for  punishing 
but  for  pardoning  the  offenders.  And  such  things  may  indeed 
be  said  regarding  your  treatment  of  those  whom  actual  guilt 
condemns  on  their  own  confession :  to  these  persons  you  have, 
out  of  regard  to  your  religion,  granted  pardon ;  for  this  I  shall 
always  praise  you.  But  now  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  express 
the  greatness  of  that  cruelty  which  pursues  the  innocent,  and 
summons  those  to  stand  trial  on  a  capital  charge  of  whom  it 
is  certain  that  they  had  no  share  in  the  crimes  alleged.  If  it 
so  happens  that  they  are  acquitted,  consider,  I  beseech  you, 
with  what  ill-will  their  acquittal  must  be  regarded  by  their  ac- 
cusers who  of  their  own  accord  dismissed  the  guilty  from  the 
bar,  but  let  the  innocent  go  only  when  they  were  defeated  in 
their  attempts  against  them. 

Augustine  very  firmly  replied  :  ^ 

Have  you  perchance  heard  some  report,  which  is  as  yet  un- 
known to  us,  that  my  brother  Possidius  had  obtained  authority 
for  proceedings  of  greater  severity  against  your  citizens,  whom 
— you  must  excuse  me  for  saying  this — he  loves  in  a  way  more 
likely  to  promote  their  welfare  than  you  do  yourself?  For 
your  letter  shows  that  you  apprehended  something  of  this 
kind.  .  .  .  Far  be  it  from  us  to  demand  the  infliction,  either 
by  ourselves  or  by  any  one,  of  such  hardships  upon  any  of  our 
enemies !  But,  as  I  have  said,  if  report  has  brought  any  such 
measures  of  severity  to  your  ears,  give  us  a  more  clear  and 
particular  account  of  the  things  reported,  that  we  may  know 
either  what  to  do  in  order  to  prevent  these  things  from  being 
done,  or  what  answer  we  must  make  in  order  to  disabuse  the 
minds  of  those  who  believe  the  rumor. 


'Aug.,  Ep.,  104  (409  A.  D.). 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


.  .  .  You  have  inserted  in  your  letter  what  I  have  never 
said  at  all  in  mine.  You  say  that  the  concluding  sentence  of 
my  letter  was,  "  that  neither  capital  punishment  nor  blood- 
shed is  demanded  in  order  to  compensate  for  the  wrong  done 
to  the  Church,  but  that  the  offenders  must  be  deprived  of  that 
which  they  most  fear  to  lose,"'  and  then,  in  showing  how 
great  a  calamity  this  imports,  you  add  and  connect  with  my 
words  that  you  "  deliberately  judge,  though  you  may  be  mis- 
taken, that  it  is  a  more  grievous  thing  to  be  deprived  of  one's 
possessions  than  to  be  deprived  of  life."  .  .  .  You  have  drawn 
the  conclusion  that  it  is  "  worse  to  live  miserably  than  to  put 
an  end  to  our  miseries  by  death."   .  .  . 

If  you  had  read  over  again  these  words  of  mine  when  you 
were  pleased  to  write  your  reply,  you  would  have  looked  upon 
it  rather  as  an  unkind  insinuation  than  as  a  necessary  duty  to 
address  to  me  a  petition  not  only  for  deliverance  from  death, 
but  also  for  exemption  from  torture,  on  behalf  of  those  re- 
garding whom  I  said  we  wished  to  leave  unimpaired  their 
possession  of  bodily  life  and  health.  Neither  was  there  any 
ground  for  your  apprehending  our  inflicting  a  life  of  indigence 
and  of  dependence  upon  others  for  daily  bread.  .  .  Why,  I 
ask,  does  your  patriotic  heart  dread  the  stroke  which  shall  cut 
this  away,  in  order  to  prevent  a  fatal  boldness  from  being  in 
everything  fostered  and  confirmed  by  impunity?  .  .  .  Mark 
carefully  what  I  say,  lest  under  the  form  of  a  petition  in  re- 
gard to  what  I  am  saying  you  appear  to  bring  against  us  an 
indirect  accusation. 

.  .  .  Let  this  at  least  be  granted  by  you,  that  those  who  at- 
tempt with  fire  and  sword  to  destroy  what  are  necessaries  to  us 
be  made  afraid  of  losing  those  luxuries  of  which  they  have  a 
pernicious  abundance.  Permit  us  also  to  confer  upon  our  ene- 
mies this  benefit,  that  we  prevent  them,  by  their  fears  about 
that  which  it  would  do  them  no  harm  to  forfeit,  from  attempt- 
ing to  do  that  which  would  bring  harm  to  themselves.  For 
this  is  to  be  termed  prudent  prevention,  not  punishment  of 
crime ;  this  is  not  to  impose  penalties,  but  to  protect  men  from 
becoming  liable  to  penalties. 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM 


.  .  .  When  surgeons  see  that  a  gangrene  must  be  cut  away 
or  cauterized,  they  often,  out  of  compassion,  turn  a  deaf  ear 
to  many  cries.  If  we  had  been  indulgently  forgiven  by  our 
parents  and  teachers  in  our  tender  years  on  every  occasion  on 
which,  being  found  in  fault,  we  begged  to  be  let  ofif,  which  of 
us  would  not  have  grown  up  intolerable?  Which  of  us  would 
have  learned  any  useful  thing?  Such  punishments  are  admin- 
istered by  wise  care,  not  by  wanton  cruelty. 

.  .  .  Far  be  it  from  a  Christian  heart  to  be  carried  away  by 
the  lust  of  revenge  to  inflict  punishments  on  anyone.  Far  be 
it  from  a  Christian,  when  forgiving  anyone  his  faults,  to  do 
otherwise  than  either  anticipate  or  at  least  promptly  answer 
the  petition  of  him  who  asks  forgiveness ;  but  let  his  purpose 
in  doing  this  be,  that  he  may  overcome  the  temptation  to  hate 
the  man  who  has  offended  him,  and  to  render  evil  for  evil,  and 
to  be  inflamed  with  rage  prompting  him,  if  not  to  do  an  injury, 
at  least  to  desire  to  see  the  infliction  of  the  penalties  ap- 
pointed by  the  law ;  let  it  not  be  that  he  may  relieve  himself 
from  considering  the  ofifender's  interests,  exercising  foresight 
on  his  behalf,  and  restraining  him  from  evil  actions.  For  it  is 
possible,  on  the  other  hand,  that,  moved  by  more  vehement 
hostility,  one  may  neglect  the  correction  of  a  man  whom  he 
hates  bitterly,  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  by  correction  in- 
volving the  infliction  of  some  pain  one  may  secure  the  im- 
provement of  another  whom  he  dearly  loves. 

...  In  the  case  of  some  Christians  who  confessed  their 
faults,  and  asked  forgiveness  for  having  been  involved  in  the 
guilt  of  that  crime, — either  by  their  not  protecting  the  Church 
when  in  danger  of  being  burned,  or  by  their  appropriating  a 
portion  of  the  property  which  the  miscreants  carried  off, — we 
believed  that  the  pain  of  repentance  had  borne  fruit,  and  con- 
sidered it  sufficient  for  their  correction,  because  in  their  hearts 
is  found  that  faith  by  which  they  could  realize  what  they 
ought  to  fear  from  the  judgment  of  God  for  their  sin.  But 
how  can  there  be  any  healing  virtue  in  the  repentance  of  those 
who  not  only  fail  to  acknowledge,  but  even  persist  in  mocking 
and  blaspheming  Him  who  is  the  fountain  of  forgiveness? 


154 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


At  the  same  time,  towards  these  men  we  do  not  cherish  enmity 
in  our  hearts.  .  .  .  But  we  think  that  we  are  even  taking 
measures  for  the  benefit  of  these  men,  if,  seeing  that  they  do 
not  fear  God,  we  inspire  fear  in  them  by  doing  something 
whereby  their  folly  is  chastened,  while  their  real  interests 
suffer  no  wrong.  .  .  . 

Fear  not,  then,  that  we  will  try  to  bring  innocent  persons 
to  death,  when  in  truth  we  do  not  even  wish  the  guilty  to  ex- 
perience the  punishment  which  they  deserve.  .  .  .  But  the 
man  who,  from  fear  of  painfully  crossing  the  will  of  the  guilty, 
spares  and  indulges  vice  which  must  thereby  gather  more 
strength,  is  less  merciful  than  the  man  who,  lest  he  should  hear 
his  little  boy  crying,  will  not  take  from  him  a  dangerous  knife, 
and  is  unmoved  by  fears  of  the  wounds  or  death  which  he  may 
have  to  bewail  as  the  consequence  of  his  weakness.  Reserve, 
therefore,  until  the  proper  time  the  work  of  interceding  with 
us  for  those  men  in  loving  whom  (excuse  my  saying  so)  you 
not  only  do  not  go  beyond  us,  but  are  even  hitherto  refusing 
to  follow  our  steps ;  and  write  rather  in  your  reply  what  influ- 
ences you  to  shun  the  way  we  follow,  and  in  which  we  beseech 
you  to  go  along  with  us  toward  that  fatherland  above,  in 
which  we  rejoice  to  know  you  take  great  delight. 

Our  sources  indicate  that  in  Africa  from  this  time  on,  the 
pagan  question  drops  more  and  more  into  the  background. 
We  find  Augustine's  efforts  confined  to  converting  their  in- 
tellectual aristocracy  by  means  of  an  argumentative  liter- 
ature. This  was  a  return  to  his  earlier  policy.  He  had 
carried  on  such  a  discussion  with  Maximus  of  Madaura  in 
the  year  390.^  Throughout,  the  argument  with  Nectarius 
of  Calama  had  been  of  this  nature.^  Augustine  had  con- 
tended that  the  fatherland  should  be  in  heaven;  that  the 
Church  should  be  the  instructress  of  the  people.  Accord- 

'  Aug.,  Epp.,  16,  17. 
*  Ibid.,  go,  91,  103,  104. 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  155 

ingly  he  felt  that  paganism  must  be  attacked  in  its  modes 
of  expression:  sculpture,  literature,  comedies,  songs  and 
dances.  A  letter  of  the  year  409  to  a  fellow  bishop,  Memor, 
asserted  that  the  pagan  literature  was  falsely  called  lib- 
eral; in  Christian  literature  alone  was  there  true  liberty. 
He  condemned  pagan  poetry,  oratory,  philosophy  and, 
though  to  a  less  extent,  pagan  history.^ 

For  to  men  who,  though  they  are  unjust  and  impious,  imagine 
that  they  are  well  educated  in  the  liberal  arts,  what  else  ought 
we  to  say  to  them  than  what  we  read  in  those  writings  which 
truly  merit  the  name  of  liberal,  "  if  the  Son  shall  make  you 
free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed."  For  it  is  through  Him  that  men 
come  to  know,  even  in  those  studies  which  are  termed  liberal 
by  those  who  have  not  been  called  to  this  true  liberty,  anything 
in  them  which  deserves  the  name.  .  .  .  The  freedom  which  is 
our  privilege  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  innumerable  and 
impious  fables  with  which  the  verses  of  silly  poets  are  full,  nor 
with  the  fulsome  and  highly  polished  falsehoods  of  their  ora- 
tors, nor,  in  fine,  with  the  rambling  subtleties  of  philosophers 
themselves.  .  .  .  Their  historical  works,  the  writers  of  which 
profess  to  be  chiefly  concerned  to  be  accurate  in  narrating 
events,  may  perhaps,  I  grant,  contain  some  thing  worthy  of 
being  known  by  "  free "  men,  since  the  narration  is  true 
whether  the  subject  described  in  it  be  the  good  or  the  evil  in 
human  experience.  At  the  same  time,  I  can  by  no  means  see 
how  men  who  were  not  aided  in  their  knowledge  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  who  were  obliged  to  gather  floating  rumors  under 
the  limitations  of  human  infirmity,  could  avoid  being  misled 
in  regard  to  very  many  things ;  nevertheless,  if  they  have  no 
intention  of  deceiving,  and  do  not  mislead  other  men  other- 
wise than  so  far  as  they  have  themselves,  through  human  in- 
firmity, fallen  into  a  mistake,  there  is  in  such  writings  an  ap- 
proach to  liberty. 

...  It  was  not  possible  for  anyone,  in  translating  these 

1  Aug.,  Bp.,  loi. 


156  POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 

poems  from  the  Hebrew,  of  which  language  I  know  nothing, 
to  preserve  the  meter.^ 

It  was  a  student,  Dioscorus,  who,  in  the  year  410,  drew 
from  Augustine  his  most  caustic  characterization  of  the 
pagan  education.-  Dioscorus  had  asked  for  an  opinion 
regarding  passages  from  Cicero.^  Augustine's  attack  on 
such  vanities  gives  an  excellent  picture  of  the  state  of  cul- 
ture at  his  time.  Even  before  the  Germans  had  touched 
Africa,  intellectual  conditions  had  fallen  to  a  very  low 
plane.  This  goes  to  show  that  we  have  been  blaming  the 
barbarians  for  a  state  of  affairs  which  is  due  in  this  case, 
in  part  at  least,  to  Christianity.  According  to  Augustine 
such  questions  as  Dioscorus  had  raised  could  not  and 
should  not  be  treated  of  at  Hippo  or  elsewhere;  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  had  need  only  of  faith. 

You  have  sent  suddenly  upon  me  a  countless  multitude  of 
questions.  ...  I  would,  indeed,  be  prevented  answering  by 
the  number  of  the  questions  to  be  resolved,  even  if  their  solu- 
tion were  easy.  But  they  are  so  perplexing  and  intricate,  and 
so  hard,  that  even  if  they  were  few  in  number,  and  engaging 
me  when  otherwise  wholly  at  leisure,  they  would,  by  the  mere 
time  required,  exhaust  my  powers  of  application,  and  wear 
out  my  strength.  I  would  fain,  however,  snatch  you  forcibly 
away  from  the  midst  of  those  inquiries  in  which  you  so  much 
delight,  ...  in  order  that  you  may  either  learn  not  to  be  un- 
profitably  curious,  or  desist  from  presuming  to  impose  the 
task  of  feeding  and  fostering  your  curiosity  upon  men  among 
whose  cares  one  of  the  greatest  is  to  repress  and  curb  those 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  55,  2  confirms  this  confession  of  ignorance  of  Hebrew. 
He  knew  Greek  but  imperfectly:  Ep.,  28,  2;  Ep.,  40;  Cont.  Litt.  Pet., 
ii,  38;  Conf.,  vii,  13  ;  i,  23 ;  i,  20 ;  De  Trin.,  in,  1:  Cont.  Faust,  xi,  2-5; 
De  Doctr.  Christ.,  ii,  Ii-i5- 
.  *  Aug.,  Ep.,  118  (410  A.  D.). 

•Aug.,  Ep.,  117  (410  A.  D.). 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  157 

who  are  too  inquisitive.  For  if  the  time  and  pains  are  de- 
voted to  writing  anything  to  you,  how  much  better  and  more 
profitable  are  these  employed  in  endeavors  to  cut  off  those 
vain  and  treacherous  passions,  .  .  .  disguised  and  cloaked 
under  the  semblance  of  virtue  and  the  name  of  liberal  studies. 

For  tell  me  what  good  purpose  is  served  by  the  many  dia- 
logues which  you  have  read,  if  they  in  no  way  helped  you 
towards  the  discovery  and  attainment  of  the  end  of  all  your 
actions?  .  .  .  When  I  consider  how  a  bishop  is  distracted 
and  overwrought  by  the  cares  of  his  office  clamoring  on  every 
side,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  proper  for  him  suddenly,  as  if 
deaf,  to  withdraw  himself  from  all  these,  and  devote  himself 
to  the  work  of  expounding  to  a  single  student  some  unim- 
portant questions  in  the  Dialogues  of  Cicero. 

.  .  .  But  you, — and  what  should  make  you  more  ashamed, 
— you,  when  on  the  eve  of  sailing  away  from  Africa,  give  evi- 
dence of  your  having  made  signal  progress,  forsooth,  in  your 
studies  here,  when  you  affirm  that  the  only  reason  why  you 
impose  the  task  of  expounding  Cicero  to  you,  upon  bishops, 
who  are  already  oppressed  with  work  and  engrossed  with 
matters  of  a  very  different  nature,  is,  that  you  fear  that  if, 
when  questioned  by  men  prone  to  censure,  you  cannot  answer, 
you  will  be  regarded  by  them  as  illiterate  and  stupid.  Oh 
cause,  well  worthy  to  occupy  the  hours  which  bishops  devote 
to  study!  .  .  .  For  I  pray  you  consider  how  much  better  and 
more  profitable  it  is  for  you  to  receive  from  us  with  far  more 
certainty  and  with  less  loss  of  time  those  principles  of  truth 
by  which  you  can  for  yourself  refute  all  that  is  false,  and  by 
so  doing  be  prevented  from  cherishing  an  opinion  so  false  and 
contemptible  as  this, — that  you  are  learned  and  intelligent  if 
you  have  studied  with  a  zeal  in  which  there  is  more  pride 
than  prudence  the  worn-out  errors  of  many  writers  of  a 
by-gone  age.  .  .  .  For  in  the  first  place,  I  do  not  at  all  see. 
that,  in  the  countries  in  which  you  are  so  afraid  of  being  es- 
teemed deficient  in  education  and  acuteness,  there  are  any 
persons  who  will  ask  you  a  single  question  about  these  matters. 
Both  in  this  country,  to  which  you  came  to  learn  those  things. 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


and  at  Rome,  you  know  by  experience  how  little  they  are  es- 
teemed and  that  in  consequence,  they  are  neither  taught  nor 
learned;  and  throughout  all  Africa,  so  far  are  you  from  being 
troubled  by  any  such  questioner,  that  you  cannot  find  any  one 
who  will  be  troubled  with  your  questions,  and  are  compelled 
by  the  dearth  of  such  persons  to  send  your  questions  to  bishops 
to  be  solved  by  them :  as  if,  indeed,  these  bishops,  although 
in  their  youth,  under  the  influence  of  the  same  ardor — let  me 
rather  say  error — which  carries  you  away,  they  were  at  pains 
to  learn  these  things  as  matters  of  great  moment,  permitted 
them  still  to  remain  in  memory  now  that  their  heads  are  white 
with  age  and  they  are  burdened  with  the  responsibilities  of 
episcopal  office ;  or  as  if,  supposing  them  to  desire  to  retain 
these  things  in  memory,  greater  and  graver  cares  would  not 
in  spite  of  their  desire  banish  them  from  their  hearts;  or  as 
if,  in  the  event  of  some  of  these  things  lingering  in  recollection 
by  the  force  of  habit,  they  would  not  wish  rather  to  bury  in 
utter  oblivion  what  was  remembered,  than  to  answer  senseless 
questions  at  a  time  when,  even  amidst  the  comparative  leisure 
enjoyed  in  the  schools  and  in  the  lecture-rooms  of  rhetoric- 
ians, they  seem  to  have  so  lost  their  voice  and  vigor  that,  in 
order  to  have  instruction  imparted  concerning  them,  it  is 
deemed  necessary  to  send  them  from  Carthage  to  Hippo, — a 
place  in  which  all  such  things  are  so  unwonted  and  so  wholly 
foreign,  that  if,  in  taking  the  trouble  of  writing  an  answer  to 
your  question,  I  wished  to  look  at  any  passage  to  discover  the 
order  of  thought  in  the  context  preceding  or  following  the 
words  requiring  exposition,  I  would  be  utterly  unable  to  find  a 
manuscript  of  the  works  of  Cicero.  I  am  amazed  in  a  degree 
beyond  all  expression  that  a  young  man  of  your  good  sense 
should  be  afraid  lest  you  should  be  afflicted  with  any  ques- 
tioner on  these  subjects  in  the  cities  of  Greece  and  of  the 
East.  You  are  much  more  likely  to  hear  jackdaws  in  Africa 
than  this  manner  of  conversation  in  those  lands. 

.  .  .  But  if  you  reply  that  you  have  already  learned  this,  and 
say  that  the  truth  supremely  necessary  is  Christian  doctrine, 
which  I  know  that  you  esteem  above  all  other  things,  placing 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  159 

in  it  alone  your  hope  of  everlasting  salvation,  then  surely  this 
does  not  demand  a  knowledge  of  the  Dialogues  of  Cicero,  and 
a  collection  of  the  beggarly  and  divided  opinions  of  other  men, 
in  order  for  you  to  persuade  men  to  give  a  hearing.  Let  your 
character  and  manner  of  life  command  the  attention  of  those 
who  are  to  receive  any  such  teaching  from  you.  I  would  not 
have  you  open  the  way  for  teaching  the  truth  by  first  teaching 
what  must  afterwards  be  unlearned.  .  . 

Augustine  himself  showed  a  profound  contempt  for  all 
educational  traditions.  He  would  gladly  reject  all  rules 
of  grammar  if  thereby  w^hat  he  had  to  say  might  be  made 
more  intelligible  to  the  ignorant.^  Literature  was  to  be 
used  only  as  an  instrument  and  so  was  to  be  abridged  or 
amended  to  suit  the  occasion.  Rhetoric  might  be  con- 
served as  a  means  of  propaganda  though  as  a  rule  there 
were  Christian  models  to  be  preferred  to  pagan  authors.- 
He  counted  as  one  of  the  errors  of  his  own  youth  his 
fondness  for  philosophy.^ 

The  Church  in  Africa  had  already  expressed  ideas  in 
general  similar  to  these.  Thg  Synod  of  Hippo  in  393  de- 
cided to  have  as  clerics  only  those  instructed  in  the  scriptures 
and  from  their  infancy  dedicated  to  the  faith.*  The  Statua 
Ecclesiae  Antiqna  forbade  bishops  the  study  of  profane 
authors  (Can.  16).  We  learn  from  Augustine  that  libraries 
were  very  poor.''  He  pointed  out  that  clerics  by  living 
near  their  bishops  might  learn  through  observation.  Jerome 

^  Aug.,  Enarr.  in  Ps..  xxxvi,  6;  cxxxviii,  20;  Serm.,  xxxvii,  10,  14; 
ccxcix,  6. 

2  Aug.,  De  Doct.  Christ.,  iv,  2-7 ;  ii,  37,  56. 

*  Aug.,  Retr.,  i,  4.  *  Can.,  5.    Cf.  supra,  p.  87. 

*  Aug.,  £/>.,  158,  I.  See  also  Cyprianus  Telonenis,  Vita  St.  Caesarii, 
"  He  who  is  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  possesses  sufficiently  the  orna- 
ments of  style."  Gregory  the  Great,  Bk.  ix ;  Ep.,  48  would  not  have 
bishops  teach  grammar. 


i6o 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


at  this  time  still  believed  in  the  classics  to  that  extent  that 
"  it  was  necessary  to  cut  off  the  head  of  Goliath  with  his 
own  sword."  ' 

The  pagan  Volusianus  and  his  circle  drew  from  Au- 
gustine in  the  year  412  a  discussion  of  various  topics;^  the 
mysteries,  the  virgin  birth,  the  incarnation,  etc.  The  chief 
thesis  of  this  group  seems  to  have  been  that  the  Christian 
religion  was  incompatible  with  the  interests  of  the  state. 

For  a  colleague,  Deogratias,  Augustine  discussed  the  fol- 
lowing questions  which  the  pagans  had  raised:'^  i.  Is  Christ 
or  Lazarus  to  be  resurrected?  2.  Why  has  the  coming  of 
Christ  been  so  delayed?  3.  Are  the  Christian  sacrifices  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  the  pagans  ?  4.  Is  the  text,  "  You  will 
be  judged  in  the  same  manner  as  you  have  judged,"  con- 
trary to  the  Christian  menace  of  eternal  punishment  for  all 
who  do  not  believe?  5.  Did  Solomon  say  that  God  had  no 
sons  ?   6.  Did  the  whale  swallow  Jonah  ? 

We  now  come  to  the  setting  for  what  is  undoubtedly  not 
only  the  greatest  of  Augustine's  works  but  the  greatest  of 
all  the  apologetic  philosophies  of  Christian  history — The 
City  of  God.  It  was  the  situation  in  Italy  rather  than  that 
in  Africa  which  called  it  forth.  The  revolution  of  408  had 
been  accompanied  by  a  slaughter  of  the  Gothic  allies.*  Their 
kinsmen  thereupon  promptly  revolted  and  besieged  Rome. 
Again  as  in  the  days  of  Radagaisus  the  popular  mind  in 
the  period  of  great  distress  turned  to  thoughts  of  religion 
and  longed  for  the  protection  of  the  old  Roman  Gods. 
Zosimus  gives  the  following  (non-Christian)  account  of 
what  took  place.'' 

1  Jerome,  Ep.,  70;  22,  30.  ^  Aug.,  Epp.,  135,  136,  137,  138- 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  102. 
*  Cf.  supra,  p.  129. 

*Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  41.  Zosimus  is  our  only  source  for  the  events  from 
the  death  of  Stilicho  until  the  arrival  of  Alaric  before  Rome. 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  i6i 


While  they  were  occupied  in  these  reflections,  Pompeianus, 
the  prefect  of  the  city,  accidentally  met  with  some  persons  who 
were  come  to  Rome  from  Tuscany  and  related  that  a  town 
called  Neveia  (Narni)  had  delivered  itself  from  extreme 
danger,  the  barbarians  having  been  repulsed  from  it  by  storms 
of  thunder  and  lightning,  which  were  caused  by  the  devotion 
of  its  inhabitants  to  the  gods,  in  the  ancient  mode  of  worship. 
Having  discoursed  with  these  men,  he  performed  all  that  was 
in  his  power  according  to  the  books  of  the  chief  priests. 
Recollecting,  however,  the  opinions  that  were  then  prevalent, 
he  resolved  to  proceed  with  greater  caution,  and  proposed  the 
whole  affair  to  the  bishop  of  the  city,  whose  name  was  Inno- 
cent. Preferring  the  preservation  of  the  city  to  his  own  pri- 
vate opinion,  he  gave  them  permission  to  do  privately  what- 
ever they  knew  to  be  convenient.  They  declared,  however, 
that  what  they  were  able  to  do  would  be  of  no  utility,  unless 
the  public  and  customary  sacrifices  were  performed  and  unless 
the  Senate  ascended  to  the  capitol,  performing  there,  and  in 
the  different  markets  of  the  city,  all  that  was  essential.  But 
no  person  daring  to  join  in  the  ancient  religious  ordinances, 
they  dismissed  the  men  who  were  come  from  Tuscany,  and 
applied  theselves  to  the  endeavoring  to  appease  the  barbarians 
in  the  best  manner  possible.  .  .  .  They  resolved  to  supply  the 
deficiency  (of  ransom)  from  the  ornaments  that  were  about 
the  statues  of  the  gods.  This  was  in  effect  only  rendering 
inanimate  and  inefficacious  those  images,  which  had  been 
erected  and  dedicated  to  the  sacred  rites  and  ceremonies,  and 
were  decorated  with  precious  attire,  for  preserving  the  city  in 
perpetual  felicity.  And  since  every  thing  then  conspired  to 
the  ruin  of  the  city,  they  not  only  robbed  the  statues  of  their 
ornaments,  but  also  melted  down  some  of  them  that  were 
made  of  gold  and  silver.  Among  these  was  that  of  Valor  or 
Fortitude,  which  the  Romans  call  Virtus.  This  being  de- 
stroyed, all  that  remained  of  the  Roman  valor  and  intrepidity 
was  totally  extinguished ;  according  to  the  remarks  of  persons 
•who  were  skilled  in  sacred  rites  and  observances.* 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  42  gives  the  terms  of  the  treaty. 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Sozomen  states  ^  that  the  necessity  for  sacrifice  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  pagan  senators  and  that  the  sacrifices  did 
take  place.  Probably  as  a  reflex  of  this  we  have  the  law  of 
February  i,  409,  against  astrologers,  Mathematici.^ 

When  Alaric  had  received  the  promised  ransom  from 
Rome  he  retired  into  Tuscany  and  attempted  to  renew  nego- 
tiations with  the  Emperor.  However,  Olympius  dismissed 
the  embassy  which  Alaric  had  sent  to  treat  with  him. 
Olympius'  line  of  conduct  in  this  affair  reacted  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  non-Christian  parties  and  in  March,  409, 
Olympius  gave  way  before  the  popular  condemnation.  He 
was  replaced  by  Jovius,  the  praetorian  prefect,  and  Gener- 
idus,  a  pagan,  was  made  general  of  Dalmatia,  Pannonia, 
Noricum  and  Rhaetia.^  Alaric  immediately  renewed  his 
demand  that  he  be  made  master  of  the  militia,  only  to  have 
it  indignantly  refused  by  Honorius  himself  who  thereupon 
even  forced  his  ministers  to  swear  by  his  own  sacred  head 
that  they  would  not  make  peace  with  his  enemy.*  Alaric 
seeing  that  he  could  not  bring  the  Emperor  to  terms  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome  and  took  the  port  of  Ostia,^  the  food  depot 
of  the  city.  Then  he  called  upon  the  city  to  surrender.  The 
Senate  was  in  no  position  to  refuse  his  terms  and  allowed 
him  to  set  up  a  new  and  rival  emperor.  Attains,  who  had 
been  prefect  of  the  city.^  This  was  also  the  recognition  of 
the  non-orthodox  element  of  society  for  Attains  who  had 

1  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  6;  Olymp.,  Fr.,  80;  Phil.,  op.  cit.,  xii,  3;  Tillemont, 
Mem.  Eccles..  x,  645,  will  not  believe  the  bishop  guilty  of  such  impious 
condescension  as  is  here  charged  to  him. 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  ix,  16,  12. 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  V,  46;  cf.  supra,  p.  133. 

*  Ibid.,  V,  48-49. 

■"'  Ibid.,  V,  50;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  8. 

*  Ibid.,  vi,  7  et  seq.;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  8-9;  Olym.,  op.  cit,  Fr.,  13; 
Phil.,  op.  cit.,  xii,  3;  Oros.,  op.  cit.,  vii,  42;  Soc,  op.  cit.,  vii,  10. 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  163 


been  educated  a  pagan  '  was  immediately  baptised  an 
Arian  -  by  the  Gothic  bishop  Sigesarius  in  order  to  fit  the 
requirements  of  the  new  situation.  Lampadius,  the  most 
exalted  pagan  of  his  times  was  made  praetorian  prefect,* 
and  Marcianus.  another  of  the  friends  of  Symmachus,  was 
made  prefect  of  the  city.  Alaric  became  magister  militum 
praesentatis  and  Adolphus,  comes  domesticoriim.  Ter- 
tuUus  was  designated  consul  for  the  ensuing  year.  In  tak- 
ing possession  of  the  consulate  in  410,  he  renewed  the  an- 
cient ceremonies.  According  to  Orosius  he  addressed  the 
Senate  as  follows :  *  "  O  Conscript  Fathers,  I  address  you 
to-day  in  the  capacity  of  consul  and  pontiff ;  I  already  pos- 
sess the  first  of  these  dignities,  I  shall  restore  the  other." 
According  to  Zosimus  all  Rome  rejoiced  and  was  satisfied 
at  the  change  save  only  the  great  Anician  family  whose  for- 
tunes were  now  bound  up  with  the  Christian  party.  This 
was  the  family  of  the  ex-consuls  Olybrius  and  Probinus. 
It  also  included  some  of  Jerome's  most  devout  female  fol- 
lowers and  was  quite  naturally  very  much  in  disfavor  with 
the  pagan  party.® 

Honorius  with  his  Christian  Court  at  Ravenna,  real- 
izing the  crisis  and  the  danger  that  all  the  pagan 
and  heretical  parts  of  his  empire  might  go  over  to  the 
usurper,  repealed  the  laws  against  pagans  and  heretics 
and  granted  to  all  free  choice  in  matters  of  faith.''  This 

'  Phil.,  op.  cit.,  xii,  3.  '  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  9. 

'  Zos.,  op.  cit..  vi,  7 ;  Aug.,  Ep.,  243 ;  Baronius.  op.  cit.,  vi,  p.  574 ; 
Ann.,  410. 

*  Oros.,  op.  cit.,  vii,  42. 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  vi,  7. 

*  Baronius,  op.  cit..  Ann.,  312,  no.  78:  322,  no.  44:  395,  no.  5-17;  Amm. 
Marc,  op.  cit.,  xxvii,  11 ;  Tillemont,  Hist,  des  Emper.,  iv,  183. 

'  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  159;  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iii,  810;  Harduin,  op.  cit., 
i,  926,  Can.  107,  "  In  hoc  concilio  legationem  susceperunt  contra  Dona- 
tistas  Florentius,  Possidius,  Praesidius  et  Benenatus  episcopi,  eo  tem- 
pore quo  lex  data  est,  ut  libera  voluntate  quis  cultum  Christianitatis 
exciperet." 


164 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


called  forth  vehement  protests  from  the  African  councils. 
Meanwhile,  however,  events  had  restored  the  fortunes  of 
the  Emperor.  The  troops  which  Attalus  had  sent  under 
Constantine  into  Africa  against  Heraclian,  the  murderer 
of  Stilicho,  trusted  too  much  in  a  promised  supernatural 
aid  and  were  defeated.^  Then  Honorius  received  rein- 
forcements from  the  East  and  Attalus  himself  seems  to 
have  shown  distrust  of  his  Gothic  allies  and  to  have  op- 
posed sending  them  into  Africa  as  reinforcements.  This 
angered  Alaric  who  thereupon  called  Attalus  to  Rimini 
(Ariminum)  and  despoiled  him  of  his  diadem  and  of  the 
purple.^  Yet  he  took  care  to  protect  Attalus  and  his  family 
from  Honorius.^  Then,  not  having  been  able  to  conclude  a 
peace  with  the  Emperor,  Alaric  marched  against  Rome  for 
the  third  time  and  on  .Vugust  the  twenty-fourth,*  he  took 
and  sacked  the  city.  Orosius  gives  no  suggestion  that 
any  great  amount  of  damage  was  done.  It  is  only  from 
Jerome  who  was  living  in  the  East,"  and  from  Procopius 
who  wrote  many  years  later  that  we  get  descriptions  of  the 
horrors  of  the  sack.  Orosius,  on  the  other  hand,  describes 
at  length  the  piety  of  the  Goths ;  *  not,  however,  mention- 
ing that  they  were  Arians.  Jordanes  "  and  Isidore  of  Se- 
ville "  have  later  embellished  the  tales  of  Jerome  and  Pro- 

*  Zos.,  op.  cit.,  vi,  7. 

'  Zos.,  op.  at.,  vi,  12;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  8;  Phil,,  op.  cit.,  xii,  3;  Oros., 
op.  cit.,  vii,  42. 

'  Beugnot,  op.  cit.,  ii,  65,  "  Le  regne  d'Attale  est  le  dernier  fait  de 
I'histoire  ou  I'influence  du  parti  paien  se  revele." 
'  Cedrenus  gives  Aug.  26.    Phil.,  op.  cit.,  xii,  3 ;  Soz.,  op.  cit.,  ix,  9. 
5  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  vii,  39;  cf.  Aug.,  Serni.,  107. 

•  Jerome,  Epp.,  126,  127,  128. 
'  Proc,  De  Bell.  Vand.,  i. 

*  Oros.,  op.  cit..  vii,  39;  cf.  Aug.,  City  of  God;  Rut.  Narrat.,  de  reditu 
sua. 

•  Jordanes,  De  Reb.  Get.,  c.  30. 
Isidore,  Chron.,  714. 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  165 


copius.  Gregorovius'  careful  research  ^  has  shown  the  for- 
bearance of  the  Goths.  Alaric  was  in  the  city  but  three 
days.  On  the  third  he  left  for  southern  Italy  with  the  pur- 
pose of  crossing  into  Africa.  This  plan  was  not  carried  out 
as  Alaric  died  before  the  end  of  the  year.- 

One  of  the  chief  effects  of  the  presence  of  the  barbarians 
in  Rome  was  the  migration  of  many  of  the  leading  Senator- 
ial families  to  their  African  estates.*  There  they  fell  a  prey 
to  Count  Heraclian  who  despoiled  them  and  sold  many  as 
slaves.  These  pagan  Romans  who  fled  before  the  Arian 
Goths  may  have  been  one  of  the  causes  for  the  law  of  the 
thirtieth  of  August,  415,  which  ordered  priests  to  return  to 
their  native  towns.    The  law  reads :  * 

'  Gregorovius,  RoTiie  in  the  Middle  Ages,  i,  158. 

*  Ores.,  op.  cit.,  vii,  39;  Marcel.,  Chron.,  says  Alaric  left  on  the  sixth 
day.  Jordanes,  De  Reh.  Get.,  30,  gives  the  romantic  story  of  the 
burial  of  Alaric  in  the  Basentus. 

'Jerome,  Ep..  130;  Tillemont,  Mem.  Ecc,  xiii,  620-635. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  10,  20.  "  Impp.  Honorius  et  Theodosius  A.  A. 
Sacerdotales  paganae  superstitionis  conpetenti  coercitioni  subjacere 
praecipimus,  nisi  intra  diem  kalendaruni  Novembrium  de  Karthagine 
decedentes  ad  civitates  redierint  genitales,  ita  ut  simili  quoque  cen- 
surae  per  totam  Africam  sacerdotales  obnoxii  teneantur,  nisi  de  me- 
Iropolitanis  urbibus  discesserint  et  remearint '  ad  proprias  civitates. 
Omnia  etiam  loca,  quae  sacris  error  veterum  deputavit,  secundum  divi 
Gratiani  constituta  nostrae  rei  jubemus  sociari  ita  ut  ex  eo  tempore, 
quo  inhibitus  est  publicus  sumptus  superstitioni  deterrimae  exhiberi, 
fructus  ab  incubatoribus  exigantur,  quod  autem  ex  eo  jure  ubicumque 
ad  singulas  quasque  personas  vel  praecedentium  principum  largitas 
vel  nostra  majestas  voluit  pervenire,  id  in  eorum  patrimoniis  aeterna 
firmitate  perduret.  Quod  non  tam  per  Africam  quam  per  omnes  re- 
giones  in  nostro  orbe  positas  custodiri  decernimus.  Ea  autem,  quae 
multiplicibus  constitutis  ad  venerabilem  ecclesiam  voluimus  pertinere, 
Christiana  sibi  merito  religio  vindicabit,  ita  ut  omnis  expensa  illius 
temporis  ad  superstitionem  pertinens,  quae  jure  damnata  est,  omnia- 
que  loca,  quae  frediani,  quae  dendrophori,  quae  singula  quaeque 
nomina  et  professiones  gentiliciae  tenuerunt  epulis  vel  sumptibus  de- 
putata,  possint  hoc  errore  submoto  compendia  nostrae  domus  suble- 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


We  order  that  the  priests  of  the  pagan  superstition  be  sub- 
jected to  legal  constraint  unless  they  leave  Carthage  before  the 
first  of  November  and  return  to  their  native  cities.  Let  the 
priests  throughout  Africa  be  held  subject  to  a  similar  sentence, 
unless  they  quit  the  metropolitan  cities  and  return  to  their 
own.  And,  in  accordance  with  the  decrees  of  the  divine 
Gratian,  we  command  that  all  places  which  the  error  of  the 
ancients  assigned  to  sacred  uses  shall  be  confiscated,  and  that 
mesne  profits  shall  be  collected  from  the  possessors  from  the 
time  when  it  was  forbidden  to  devote  public  resources  to  most 
unworthy  superstition,  provided,  however,  that  whatever  parts 
or  proceeds  of  such  property  have  been  given  by  the  generosity 
of  our  predecessors  or  by  our  own  majesty  to  any  particular 
persons  in  any  place,  shall  remain  securely  forever  in  their 
private  estates.  Let  these  decrees  be  observed  not  only  in 
Africa  but  throughout  the  whole  of  the  empire.  All  that 
property,  however,  which  we  have  granted  to  the  venerable 
Church  by  numerous  constitutions,  the  Christian  religion  will 
justly  claim  as  its  own,  provided  that  all  outlays  of  that  time 
pertaining  to  a  superstition  which  has  been  condemned  by  law. 
and  all  the  property  held  by  the  Frediani,  the  Dendrophori, 
or  devoted  in  whatever  heathen  names  or  professions  to  their 
feasts  or  expenses,  this  error  having  been  removed,  shall  in- 
crease the  revenues  of  our  establishment.  And  if  things 
formerly  consecrated  to  sacrifices  have  contributed  to  the 
misleading  of  men.  let  them  be  taken  from  the  baths  and  public 
places,  that  they  may  no  longer  seduce  the  erring.  In  addi- 
tion we  have  determined  that  the  Chiliarchae  and  the  Cen- 
tonarii,  and  all  others  who  are  said  to  usurp  the  distribution 
of  the  people  into  companies,  shall  be  removed,  and  if  any  of 

vare.  Sane  si  quondam  consecrata  sacrificiis  deceptionem  hominum 
praestiterunt,  ab  usibus  lavacrorum  vel  publicis  affectibus  separentur, 
ne  inlecebram  errantibus  praestent.  Chiliarchas  insuper  et  centon- 
arios  vel  qui  sibi  plebis  distributionem  usurpare  dicuntur  censuimus  re- 
movendos.  ita  ut  capitalem  sententiam  non  evadat,  si  quis  aut  volens 
ad  huiusmodi  nomen  accesserit  aut  passus  fuerit  vel  invitum  se  huius- 
modi  praesumptioni  atque  invidiae  deputari." 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  167 


them  voluntarily  shall  have  received  this  sort  of  title  or  shall 
have  allowed  himself  even  against  his  will  to  be  designated  to 
such  presumptuous  and  invidious  duties,  he  shall  not  escape 
capital  punishment. 

The  presence  of  this  foreign  pagan  element  may  also 
have  been  one  of  the  causes  for  Augustine's  last  and  great- 
est polemic  against  the  pagans.  At  this  period  (411)  he 
began  his  magnum  opus,  The  City  of  God,  as  a  refutation 
of  the  pagan  claim  that  the  miseries  of  the  times,  and  es- 
pecially the  sack  of  Rome,^  were  the  result  of  the  desertion 
of  the  old  gods.  He  finished  the  first  three  books  in  413.'' 
The  whole  occupied  him  until  426.  It  was  an  argument 
that  the  calamities  of  Rome  were  no  greater  in  Christian 
times  than  they  had  been  in  pagan.  Wt  may  judge  from 
the  edict  of  415,  just  cited,  why  Augustine  advises  those 
pagans  desiring  to  reply  to  be  careful  how  they  attempt  to 
do  so.' 

But  now  I  see  that  I  must  answer  those  who,  being  confuted 
and  convinced  by  the  most  manifest  proofs,  in  this  that  these 
false  gods  have  no  power  in  the  distribution  of  temporal  goods 
which  only  fools  desire),  now  go  to  affirm  that  they  are 
worshiped,  not  for  the  helps  of  this  life  present,  but  to  that 
which  is  to  come.  For  in  these  five  books  past,  we  have  said 
enough  to  such  as  (like  little  babies)  cry  out  that  they  would 
fain  worship  them  for  those  earthly  helps,  but  cannot  be  suf- 
fered. The  first  three  books  I  had  no  sooner  finished  and  let 
pass  abroad  into  some  men's  hands  than  I  heard  of  some  that 
prepared  to  make  (I  know  not  why)  an  answer  to  them  or  a 
reply  upon  them.    Afterwards  I  heard,  that  they  had  written 

'  Some  contemporary  arguments  are  also  disposed  of,  as  (ii,  3)  "  It 
does  not  rain,  that  is  the  fault  of  the  Christians." 
'  Aug.,  Ep.,  154. 
•  Aug.,  City  of  God.  v,  26. 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


them,  but  were  waiting  a  time  when  they  could  publish  in 
security.  But  I  advise  them  not  to  wish  a  thing  so  inexpe- 
dient ;  it  is  an  easy  thing  for  any  man  to  seem  to  have  made 
an  answer,  that  is  not  altogether  silent ;  but  what  is  more  talk- 
ative than  vanity,  which  cannot  have  the  power  of  truth,  by 
reason  that  it  has  more  tongues  than  truth?  But  let  these 
fellows  mark  each  thing  well ;  and  if  their  impartial  judgments 
tell  them,  that  their  tongue's  ripe  satirism  may  more  easily  dis- 
turb the  truth  of  this  world,  than  subvert  it,  let  them  keep  in 
their  trumperies,  and  learn  rather  to  be  reformed  by  the  wise, 
than  applauded  by  the  foolish.  For  if  they  await  a  time  (not 
for  the  freedom  of  truth  but)  for  the  licensing  of  reproach, 
God  forbid  that  that  should  be  true  of  them,  which  TuUy 
spoke  of  a  certain  man,  "  who  was  called  happy  in  having 
leave  to  offend.  O  wretched  man,  who  hath  free  liberty  to 
offend." 

This  work  was  intended  for  the  intellectual  aristocracy 
only.  Augustine,  realizing  that  the  common  people  were 
to  be  reached  by  other  means,  authorized  his  follower,  the 
Spaniard,  Paul  Orosius,  to  prepare  a  treatise  for  that  class : 

You  have  commanded  me  to  write  against  the  vain  rhetoric  of 
those  who,  aliens  to  the  city  of  God,  coming  from  country 
cross-roads  and  villages,  are  called  pagans  because  they  smack 
of  the  soil,  who  seek  not  unto  the  future  and  ignore  the  past, 
yet  cry  down  the  present  time  as  filled  with  evil,  just  because 
Christ  is  believed  and  God  is  worshipped.  You  have  com- 
manded that  I  should  gather  from  histories  and  annals  what- 
ever mighty  ills  and  miseries  and  terrors  there  have  been 
from  wars  and  pestilence,  from  famine,  earthquake  and 
floods,  from  volcanic  eruptions,  from  lightning  or  hail,  and 
also  from  monstrous  crimes  in  the  past  centuries,  and  that  I 
should  arrange  and  set  forth  the  matter  briefly  in  a  book.^ 


'  Orosius,  op.  cit.,  Praef. 


AUGUSTINE'S  RELATIONS  WITH  PAGANISM  169 


This  Christianized  Universal  History  of  Paul  Orosius  ex- 
ercised great  authority  in  the  Middle  Ages  for  it  was  not 
the  intellectuals  who  survived. 

Such  was  the  literary  combat  in  which  Augustine  par- 
ticipated/ At  Rome  in  the  year  410  the  pagan  party  was 
still  flourishing  and  though  they  never  again  came  into 
power  as  a  political  party,  from  the  few  subsequent  sources 
which  we  possess  relating  to  them  we  may  conclude  that 
their  strength  did  not  entirely  vanish.  They  continued  to 
hold  office,  which  shows  that  Zosimus  is  correct  when  he 
states  that  the  law  of  408  was  repealed.  Rutilius  Nama- 
tianus  was  prefect  in  413,  Albinus  in  414,  Symmachus  in 
418  and  Volusianus  in  429.  Yet  paganism,  such  as  it  was, 
gave  no  concern  to  Augustine  during  the  rest  of  his  life- 
time. Nor  do  we  hereafter  find  any  laws  of  the  Western 
Emperors  directed  against  it. 

*  Salvian,  De  Gubernatione  Dei  written  about  440  treats  of  the  same 
theme  as  Orosius  and  Augustine,  but  he  is  writing  ostensibly  for 
Christians  and  concludes  that  Rome's  misfortunes  are  the  direct  pun- 
ishment for  the  sins  of  the  Christians  themselves. 


CHAPTER  VII 


Suppression  of  the  Donatists 

The  victory  of  the  orthodox  which  in  408  placed  Olym- 
pius  in  power  was  of  great  significance  for  the  African 
situation.  Its  first  and  most  important  consequence  was 
the  enforcement  of  the  anti-heretical  laws.  Governors  and 
other  officers  suddenly  became  extremely  zealous  in  putting 
into  effect  the  full  letter  of  the  law.  This  was  due  in  part 
to  the  decree  of  the  Emperor  on  the  subject  of  official  con- 
nivance, in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  officials  were  now  of 
the  faith,  but  especially  to  an  immediate  supervision  on 
the  part  of  the  African  clergy.  Indeed  it  was  Augustine's 
Avatchful  oversight  that  became  the  guiding  force  for  this 
new  outburst  of  persecuting  enthusiasm.  The  whole  situ- 
ation is  well  set  forth  in  a  letter  which  Augustine  addressed 
to  the  African  proconsul,  Donatus.  This  gives  us  a  clear 
insight  into  the  nature  of  Augustine's  control  over  the  im- 
perial forces  as  director  of  this  crusade,  which  was  the  re- 
sult of  the  changed  attitude  toward  persecution  that  had 
been  adopted  both  by  himself  and  by  the  government.  It 
lays  down  for  the  proconsul  the  lines  that  he  is  to  follow  in 
enforcing  the  laws  for  the  extinction  of  heresy.  Again 
Augustine's  skill  as  an  administrator  is  shown.  In  order 
that  advantages  already  gained  may  not  be  destroyed  by 
too  great  severity,  and  prosecutions  become  repugnant  to 
all  except  the  most  fanatic,  Donatus  is  requested  to  issue 
a  new  edict  wherein  it  is  to  be  laid  down  that  all  the  old 
edicts  on  the  subject  of  heresy  continue  in  force,  but — 
170 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS  171 

and  herein  Augustine's  masterly  diplomacy  is  shown — Don- 
atus  is  advised  not  to  apply  the  harsher  provisions  of  the 
laws  and  to  take  care  that  all  proceedings  shall  be  public. 
The  letter  reads  :^ 

I  would  indeed  that  the  African  Church  were  not  placed  in 
such  trying  circumstances  as  to  need  the  aid  of  earthly  power. 
.  .  .  For,  O  noble  and  deservedly  honorable  lord  and  emi- 
nently praiseworthy  son,  who  does  not  perceive  that  in  the 
midst  of  so  great  calamities  no  small  consolation  has  been  be- 
stowed upon  us  by  God,  in  that  you,  such  a  man  and  so  de- 
voted to  the  name  of  Christ,  have  been  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
proconsul,  so  that  power  allied  with  your  good-will  may  re- 
strain the  enemies  of  the  Church  from  their  wicked  and  sac- 
rilegious attempts?  In  fact,  there  is  one  thing  of  which  we 
are  much  afraid  in  your  administration  of  justice,  viz.,  lest 
perchance,  seeing  that  every  injury  done  by  impious  and  un- 
grateful men  against  the  Christian  society  is  a  more  serious 
and  heinous  crime  than  if  it  had  been  done  against  others,  you 
should  on  this  ground  consider  that  it  ought  to  be  punished 
with  a  severity  corresponding  to  the  enormity  of  the  crime, 
and  not  with  the  moderation  which  is  suitable  to  Christian 

'  Aug.,  Ep.,  100.  The  severity  of  the  proconsul  may  possibly  be  ex- 
plained by  the  fury  of  the  circumcelliones,  whose  acts  Augustine  thus 
describes  (Ep.,  in,  i,  409  A.  D.)  :  "The  whole  world,  indeed,  is  af- 
flicted with  such  portentous  misfortunes,  that  there  is  scarcely  any 
place  where  such  things  as  you  describe  are  not  being  committed  and 
complained  of.  .  .  .  Behold  in  our  own  country  of  Hippo,  which  the 
barbarians  have  not  yet  touched,  the  ravages  of  the  Donatist  clergy 
and  Circumcelliones  make  such  havoc  in  our  churches,  that  perhaps 
the  cruelties  of  the  barbarians  would  be  light  in  comparison.  For  what 
barbarian  could  ever  devise  what  these  have  done,  viz.,  casting  lime 
and  vinegar  into  the  eyes  of  our  clergymen,  besides  atrociously  beat- 
ing and  wounding  every  part  of  their  bodies?  They  also  plunder  and 
bum  houses,  rob  granaries,  and  pour  out  oil  and  wine:  and  threaten- 
ing to  do  this  to  all  others  in  the  district,  they  compel  many  even  to  be 
rebaptized.  Only  yesterday,  tidings  came  to  me  of  forty-eight  souls 
in  one  place  having  submitted,  under  fear  of  such  things,  to  be  re- 
baptized."    Cf.  Ep..  108,  5,  14;  6,  18. 


172 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


forbearance.  We  beseech  you,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  not  to 
act  in  this  manner.  For  we  do  not  seek  to  revenge  ourselves 
in  this  work ;  nor  ought  the  things  which  we  suffer  to  reduce 
us  to  such  distress  of  mind  as  to  leave  no  room  in  our 
memory  for  the  precepts  in  regard  to  this  which  we  have  re- 
ceived from  Him  for  whose  truth  and  in  whose  name  we  suf- 
fer; we  "love  our  enemies",  and  "we  pray  for  them".  It 
is  not  their  death,  but  their  deliverance  from  error,  that  we 
seek  to  accomplish  by  the  help  of  the  terror  of  judges  and  of 
laws,  whereby  they  may  be  preserved  from  falling  under  the 
penalty  of  eternal  judgment ;  we  do  not  wish  either  to  see  the 
exercise  of  discipline  towards  them  neglected,  or  on  the  other 
hand,  to  see  them  subjected  to  the  severer  punishment  which 
they  deserve.  Do  you,  therefore,  check  their  sins  in  such  a 
way,  that  the  sinners  may  be  spared  to  repent  of  their  sins. 

We  beg  you,  therefore,  when  you  are  pronouncing  judg- 
ment in  cases  affecting  the  Church,  how  wicked  soever  the 
injuries  may  be  which  you  shall  ascertain  to  have  been  at- 
tempted or  inflicted  on  the  Church,  to  forget  that  you  have  the 
power  of  capital  punishment,  and  not  to  forget  our  request. 
Nor  let  it  appear  to  you  as  unimportant  and  beneath  your 
notice,  my  most  beloved  and  honored  son,  that  we  ask  you  to 
spare  the  lives  of  the  men  on  whose  behalf  we  ask  God  to 
grant  them  repentance.  For  even  granting  that  we  ought 
never  to  deviate  from  a  fixed  purpose  of  overcoming  evil  with 
good,  let  your  own  wisdom  take  this  also  into  consideration, 
that  no  person  beyond  those  who  belong  to  the  Church  is  at 
pains  to  bring  before  you  cases  pertaining  to  her  interests.  If, 
therefore,  your  opinion  be,  that  death  must  be  the  punishment 
of  men  convicted  of  these  crimes,  you  will  deter  us  from  en- 
deavoring to  bring  anything  of  this  kind  before  your  tribunal  ; 
and  this  being  discovered,  they  will  proceed  with  more  unre- 
strained boldness  to  accomplish  speedily  our  destruction,  when 
upon  us  is  imposed  and  enjoined  the  necessity  of  choosing 
rather  to  suf¥er  death  at  their  hands,  than  to  bring  them  to 
death  by  accusing  them  at  your  bar.  Disdain  not,  I  beseech 
you,  to  accept  this  suggestion,  petition,  and  entreaty  from  me. 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


173 


For  I  do  not  think  that  you  are  unmindful  that  I  might  have 
great  boldness  in  addressing  you,  even  were  I  not  a  bishop, 
and  even  though  your  rank  were  very  much  above  that  which 
you  now  hold.  Meanwhile,  let  the  Donatist  heretics  learn  at 
once  through  the  edict  of  your  Excellency  that  the  laws  passed 
against  this  error,  which  they  suppose  and  boastfully  declare 
to  be  repealed,  are  still  in  force,  although  even  when  they 
know  this  they  may  not  be  able  to  refrain  in  the  least  degree 
from  injuring  us.  You  will,  however,  most  effectively  help  us 
to  secure  the  fruit  of  our  labors  and  dangers,  if  you  take  care 
that  the  imperial  laws  for  the  restraining  of  their  sect  which 
is  full  of  conceit  and  impious  pride,  be  so  used  that  they  may 
not  appear  either  to  themselves  or  to  others  to  be  suffering 
hardship  in  any  form  for  the  sake  of  truth  and  righteousness ; 
but  sufifer  them,  when  this  is  requested  at  your  hands,  to  be 
convinced  and  instructed  by  incontrovertible  proofs  of  things 
which  are  most  certain,  in  public  proceedings  in  the  presence 
of  your  Excellency  and  of  inferior  judges,  in  order  that  those 
who  are  arrested  by  your  command  may  themselves  incline 
their  stubborn  will  to  the  better  part,  and  may  read  these 
things  profitably  to  others  of  their  party.  For  the  pains  be- 
stowed are  burdensome  rather  than  really  useful,  when  men 
are  only  compelled,  not  persuaded  by  instruction,  to  forsake 
a  great  evil  and  lay  hold  upon  a  great  benefit. 

The  edict  by  which  the  Emperor  had  forbidden  any 
further  neglect  on  the  part  of  ofificials  was  issued  on  the 
fifteenth  of  January,  409,  and  reads: 

Let  not  the  Donatists  nor  the  supporters  of  other  vain  heresies 
nor  any  of  those  others  who  cannot  be  induced  to  participate 
in  the  communion  of  the  Catholic  religion,  the  Jews  namely, 
and  the  gentiles,  who  are  commonly  called  pagans,  conclude 
that  the  laws  previously  directed  against  them  have  grown 
lukewarm ;  let  all  judges  know,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  pro- 
visions of  these  laws  must  be  faithfully  observed  and  let 
them  have  no  doubt  that  the  execution  of  all  our  decrees 


174 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


against  those  persons  is  to  be  among  the  chiefest  of  their 
cares.  And  if  any  judge  by  wrongful  connivance  shall  fail  to 
enforce  the  present  law,  let  him  know  that  he  will  lose  his 
office  and  be  subjected  to  a  more  serious  change  of  our  clem- 
ency, and  that  his  officials  who  were  wanting  in  regard  for 
their  own  safety  will  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds 
of  gold  imposed  upon  the  three  chief  men.  Municipal  coun- 
cilors also  are  to  understand  that,  if  they  have  shown  favor 
to  culprits  by  hushing-up  offences  of  this  sort  in  their  cities 
or  territories,  they  will  be  subject  to  the  penalty  of  deportation 
and  forfeiture  of  all  their  property.^ 

Another  law  of  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  409,  reads : 
"  If  anyone  has  attempted,  even  by  virtue  of  our  own 
written  authorization,  to  act  contrary  to  the  laws  repeat- 
edly issued  for  the  common  welfare,  that  is,  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  against  heretics  and 
followers  of  a  different  dogma,  let  him  be  deprived  of  all 
that  has  been  conceded  him."  - 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  46.  "  Theodore  P.  P.  Ne  Donatistae  vel  ceter- 
orum  vanitas  haereticoruni  aliorumque  eorum,  quibus  catholicae  com- 
munionis  cultus  non  potest  persuaderi,  Judaei  adque  gentiles,  quos 
vulgo  paganos  appellant,  arbitrentur  legum  ante  adversum  se  datariim 
constituta  tepuisse,  noverint  judices  universi  praeceptis  earum  fideli  de- 
votione  parendum  et  inter  praecipua  curarum  quidquid  adversus  eos 
decrevimus  non  ambigant  exsequendum.  Quod  si  quisquam  judicum 
peccato  coniventiae  exsecutionem  praesentis  legis  omiserit,  noverit 
amissa  dignitate  graviorem  motum  se  nostrae  clementiae  subiturum,  of- 
ficium  quoque  suum,  quod  saluti  propriae  contempta  suggestione  de- 
fuerit,  punitis  tribus  primatibus  condemnatione  viginti  librarum  auri 
plectendum.  Ordinis  quoque  viri  si  in  propriis  civitatibus  vel  territoriis 
commissum  tale  aliquid  siluerint  in  gratiam  noxiorum,  deportationis 
poenam  et  propriarum  ammissionem  facultatum  se  noverint  subituros." 

'  Cod.  Theod;  xvi,  5,  47.  "  Si  quis  contra  ea,  quae  multipliciter  pro 
salute  communi,  hoc  est  pro  utilitatibus  catholicae  sacrosanctae  eccle- 
siae,  adversus  haereticos  et  diversi  dogmatis  sectatores  constituta  sunt, 
etiam  cum  adnotationis  nostrae  beneficio  venire  temptaverit,  careat  im- 
petratis." 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


At  Sinitus  near  Hippo  the  Donatists  issued  a  proclama- 
tion to  the  Maximianists  ^  which  reads^  "  Let  the  house  of 
anyone  who  shall  have  communed  with  the  Maximianists  be 
burned,"  and  certain  Donatist  priests  addressed  to  Au- 
gustine a  dire  threat,  "  Keep  away  from  our  people  if  you 
do  not  want  us  to  kill  you."  '  Against  such  a  spirit  it  is  no 
wonder  that  Augustine  advocated  the  use  of  force,  saying. 
"  If  we  so  discipline  you  that  we  force  you  to  unity  through 
the  commands  of  the  Emperors,  you  bring  it  upon  your- 
selves, for  you  by  your  violence  and  threats  will  not  per- 
mit anyone  in  security  to  listen  when  we  would  preach  the 
truth."  * 

Yet  in  the  year  410,  Heraclian,  Count  of  Africa,  re- 
ceived an  imperial  constitution  granting  almost  universal 
toleration  in  religious  matters.*  We  have  already  noted  the 
circumstances  in  the  Roman  empire  which  caused  this  to  be 
issued.  It  caused  the  protest  from  the  Council  of  the  four- 
teenth of  June  ®  which  sent  Possidius  and  three  other 
bishops  to  the  court  to  remonstrate  against  the  liberty  ac- 
corded to  the  Donatists  and  to  demand  a  general  confer- 
ence between  the  two  parties."  The  edict  of  toleration  was 
annulled  by  the  law  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  August.  410. 
which  reads :  "  To  Heraclian,  Count  of  Africa.  Let  all  the 
enemies  of  the  sacred  law  know^  that  the  constitution  which 
they  obtained  by  deception,  in  favor  of  the  rites  of  hereti- 
cal superstition,  is  wholly  rescinded,  and  that  they  will  be 
subjected  not  only  to  confiscation  of  their  property  but  also 

•  Aug.,  Ep.,  105,  2,  4. 

-  Ibid.,  105,  I,  I.  3  Ibid.,  105,  2,  3. 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  51.  Aug.,  Ep..  108,  6,  18,  "  istam  legem,  qua 
gaudetis  vobis  redditam  libertatem." 

^  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  926;  cf.  supra,  p.  163. 
8  Aug.,  Brev.  Coll.,  iii,  2,  2 ;  3,  3 ;  4,  4-5. 


176  POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 

to  capital  punishment,  if  with  execrable  and  criminal  bold- 
ness they  continue  to  attempt  to  convene  in  public."  ^  A 
special  commissioner,  Marcellinus,  senator,  tribune  and 
imperial  notary,  to  whom  Augustine's  City  of  God  was 
dedicated,  was  charged  by  the  Emperor  to  go  to  Carthage, 
convoke  a  conference,  preside  at  its  debates  and  establish 
religious  unity.-  Previous  to  the  sessions  of  the  confer- 
ence he  was  to  see  that  all  the  laws  in  favor  of  the  Cath- 
olics were  enforced  according  to  the  following  edict  of  the 
fourteenth  of  October,  410:  ^  "Honorius  and  Theodosius  to 
their  Marcellinus,  greeting.  We  command  to  be  observed, 
complete  and  inviolate,  all  that  antiquity  formerly  ordained 
or  the  religious  authority  of  our  predecessors  decreed  or 
our  serenity  has  confirmed  regarding  Catholic  law,  new 
superstition  being  set  aside." 

Although  the  Donatists  must  have  known  of  the  previous 
persecutions,  the  edict  of  union,  the  repressive  laws  and 
the  attitudes  of  the  Emperor  and  his  commissioner,  yet  they 
entered  the  conference.  It  is  not  the  place  here  to  give  a 
history  of  that  assembly.  It  was  convoked  by  the  commis- 
sioner at  Carthage  for  the  first  day  of  June,  411.  Marcel- 
linus himself  presided.  Both  parties  had  about  the  same 
number  of  representatives.  Three  sessions  were  held,  at 
the  end  of  which  the  president  closed  the  conference,  con- 

^  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  51.  "  Heracliano  Comiti  Africae.  Oraculo 
penitus  remoto,  quo  ad  ritus  suos  haereticae  superstitionis  obrepserant, 
sciant  omnes  sanctae  legis  inimici  plectendos  se  poena  et  proscriptionis 
et  sanguinis,  si  ultra  convenire  per  publicum  execranda  sceleris  sui 
temeritate  temptaverint." 

'  Aug.,  Serm.,  357,  358,  359 ;  Co//.  Carth.,  i,  4 ;  iii,  29. 

^  Cod.  Theod..  xvi,  11,  3.  "Honor,  et  Theod.  A.  A.  Marcellino  sue 
salutem.  Ea,  quae  circa  catholicam  legem  vel  olim  ordinavit  anti- 
quitas  vel  parentum  nostrorum  auctoritas  religiosa  constituit  vel  nostra 
serenitas  roboravit,  novella  superstitione  submota  Integra  et  inviolata 
custodiri  praecipimus." 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


demned  the  Donatists  and  issued  an  edict  of  proscription  * 
in  which  he  forbade  their  meetings  and  turned  their  build- 
ings over  to  the  orthodox.  This  marks  the  ruin  of  the 
Donatist  cause,  for,  though  they  appealed  to  the  Emperor/ 
alleging  fraud  and  partiality  on  the  part  of  Marcellinus,* 
Honorius  replied  by  an  edict  of  persecution.  This  was 
issued  on  the  thirtieth  of  January,  412,  and  reads:  * 

All  concessions  that  have  been  made  in  formal  edicts  or  in 
annotation  by  our  own  hand  being  herewith  revoked,  all  the 

'  Coll.  Carth.,  iii,  585 :  Aug.,  Brez:  Coll.,  iii,  25,  43. 
'Aug.,  Ad  Donat.  post  Coll.,  i,  12,  16;  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  15. 

*  Possid.,  op.  cit..  16;  Aug.,  Brev.  Coll.,  i,  praef.;  iii,  18,  36;  Ad  Donat. 
post  Coll.,  i,  i:  Ep.,  141,  I.  "Vestros  episcopos  dicere  cognitorem 
praemio  fuisse  corruptum." 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  52.  "  Seleuco  P.  P.  Cassatis,  quae  pragmaticis 
vel  adnotatione  manus  nostrae  potuerint  impetrari,  et  manentibus  his, 
quae  jam  dudum  super  hoc  definita  sunt,  et  veterum  principum  sanc- 
tione  servata,  nisi  ex  die  prolatae  legis  omnes  Donatistae,  tarn  sacer- 
dotes  quam  clerici  laicique.  catholicae  se,  a  qua  sacrilege  descivere, 
rediderint,  tunc  inlustres  singillatim  poenae  nomine  fisco  nostro  auri 
pondo  quinquaginta  cogantur  inferre.  spectabiles  auri  pondo  quad- 
raginta,  senatores  auri  pondo  triginta,  clarissimi  auri  pondo  viginti. 
sacerdotales  auri  pondo  triginta.  principales  auri  pondo  viginti 
decuriones  auri  pondo  quinque,  negotiatores  auri  pondo  quinque, 
plebei  auri  pondo  quinque,  circumcellionss  argenti  pondo  decem.  Qui 
nisi  a  conductoribus,  sub  quibus  conmanent.  vel  procuratoribus  exe- 
cutori  exigenti  fuerint  praesentati,  ipsi  teneantur  ad  poenam,  ita  ut 
nec  domus  nostrae  homines  ab  huiuscemodi  censura  habeantur  in- 
munes.  Uxores  quoque  eorum  maritalis  segregatim  multri  constringat. 
Eos  enim,  quos  nequaquam  inlata  damna  correxerint.  facultatum 
omnium  publicatio  subsequetur.  Servos  etiam  dominorum  admonitio 
vel  colonos  verberum  crebrior  ictus  a  prava  religione  revocabit,  ni 
malunt  ipsi  ad  praedicta  dispendia.  etiam  si  sunt  catholici,  retineri. 
Clerici  vero  ministrique  eorum  ac  perniciosissimi  sacerdotes,  ablati  de 
Africano  solo,  quod  ritu  sacrilege  polluerunt,  in  exilium  viritim  ad 
singulas  quasque  regiones  sub  idonea  prosecutione  mittantur,  ecclesiis 
eorum  vel  conventiculis  praediisque,  si  qua  in  eorum  ecclesias  haeretic- 
orum  largitas  prava  contulit,  proprietati  poteslatique  catholicae,  sicut 
jam  dudum  statuimus,  vindicatis." 


178 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


decisions  long  ago  rendered  in  this  matter  remaining  in  force 
and  the  law  laid  down  by  former  princes  being  observed, — 
if  from  the  day  of  the  promulgation  of  this  law  all  Donatists, 
priests,  clerics,  and  laity,  shall  not  have  returned  to  the  Cath- 
olic belief  from  which  they  have  sacrilegiously  departed,  illus- 
tres  shall  each  be  fined  fifty  pounds  of  gold,  spectabiles  forty 
pounds  of  gold,  senatores  thirty  pounds  of  gold,  clarissimi 
twenty  pounds  of  gold,  sacerdotales  thirty  pounds  of  gold, 
principales  twenty  pounds  of  gold,  decuriones  five  pounds  of 
gold,  negotiatores  five  pounds  of  gold,  plehei  five  pounds  of 
gold,  circumcelliones  ten  pounds  of  silver.  If  on  demand  of 
the  commissioner  {executor)  such  persons  are  not  produced 
by  the  lessees  on  whose  estates  they  live  or  by  the  stewards  of 
these  estates,  such  lessees  shall  themselves  be  responsible  for 
the  fines,  and  not  even  the  men  of  our  own  household  shall 
have  immunity  from  a  judgment  of  this  sort.  Fines  imposed 
upon  husbands  shall  also  operate  separately  against  their 
wives.  Upon  those  whom  these  penalties  shall  have  failed  to 
correct  there  shall  be  imposed  confiscation  of  all  their  prop- 
erty. The  admonition  of  the  masters  will  recall  slaves  from 
their  depraved  religion  and  frequent  whippings  the  coloni, 
unless  the  masters  prefer  to  be  held  liable,  even  though  they 
be  Catholics,  for  the  fine  mentioned  above.  Let  their  clerics 
and  their  assistants  and  their  most  pernicious  priests,  re- 
moved from  the  African  soil  which  they  have  polluted  by 
their  sacrilegious  worship,  be  sent  separately  to  diflferent  re- 
gions under  a  suitable  guard.  Their  churches  or  meeting- 
places  and  their  lands,  if  the  depraved  munificence  of  the 
heretics  shall  have  conferred  such  possessions  upon  their 
churches,  shall  be  taken  over  into  Catholic  ownership  and 
control,  as  we  have  already  decreed. 

Augustine  summarizes  the  Emperor's  edict  as  follows :  ^ 
"  Everything,  therefore,  that  was  held  in  the  name  of  the 
churches  of  the  party  of  Donatus  was  ordered  by  the 


1  Aug.,  Ep.,  185.  9.  36. 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


1 79 


Christian  emperors,  in  their  pious  laws,  to  pass  to  the 
Catholic  Church,  with  the  possession  of  the  buildings  them- 
selves." 

MarcelHnus.  who  had  directed  the  conference,  remained 
in  Africa  till  413  as  special  commissioner  (executor)  for 
the  Emperor.  But  he  was  under  the  careful  supervision  of 
Augustine.  We  possess  numerous  letters  that  passed  be- 
tween MarcelHnus  and  Augustine  relative  to  the  religious 
persecution.^  Augustine  wrote  to  MarcelHnus  in  the  year 
412:- 

Although  we  might  silently  pass  over  the  execution  of  crimi- 
nals who  may  be  regarded  as  brought  for  trial  not  upon  an 
accusation  of  ours,  but  by  an  indictment  presented  by  those 
to  whose  vigilance  the  preservation  of  the  public  peace  is  en- 
trusted, we  do  not  wish  to  have  the  suffering  of  the  servants 
of  God  avenged  by  the  infliction  of  precisely  similar  injuries 
in  the  way  of  retaliation.  Not,  of  course,  that  we  object  to 
the  removal  from  those  wicked  men  of  the  liberty  to  perpe- 
trate further  crimes :  but  our  desire  is  rather  that  justice  be 
satisfied  without  the  taking  of  their  lives  or  the  maiming  of 
their  bodies  in  any  part,  and  that,  by  such  coercive  measures 
as  may  be  in  accordance  with  the  laws,  they  be  turned  from 
their  insane  frenzy  to  the  quietness  of  men  in  their  sound 
judgment,  or  compelled  to  give  up  mischievous  violence  and 
betake  themselves  to  some  useful  labor.  .  .  . 

Do  not  lose  now  that  fatherly  care  which  you  maintained 
when  prosecuting  the  examination,  in  doing  which  you  ex- 
tracted the  confession  of  such  horrid  crimes,  not  by  stretching 
them  on  the  rack,  not  by  furrowing  their  flesh  with  iron 
claws,  not  by  scorching  them  with  flames,  but  by  beating  them 
with  rods, — a  mode  of  correction  used  by  schoolmasters,  and 
by  parents  themselves  in  chastising  children,  and  often  also  by 
bishops  in  the  sentences  awarded  by  them.  .  .  .  The  necessity 
for  harshness  is  greater  in  the  investigation  than  in  the  in- 


lAug.,  Epp.,  133,  136.  138,  139,  143- 


^-Ibid..  133- 


i8o 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


fliction  of  punishment ;  for  even  the  gentlest  men  use  dili- 
gence and  stringency  in  searching  out  a  hidden  crime,  that 
they  may  find  to  whom  they  may  show  mercy.  Wherefore  it 
is  generally  necessary  to  use  more  rigor  in  making  inquisition, 
so  that  when  the  crime  has  been  brought  to  light,  there  may 
be  scope  for  displaying  clemency.  .  . 

In  fine,  you  have  been  sent  hither  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Church.  I  solemnly  declare  that  what  I  recommend  is  ex- 
pedient in  the  interests  of  the  Catholic  Church,  or,  that  I 
may  not  seem  to  pass  beyond  the  boundaries  of  my  own 
charge,  I  protest  that  it  is  for  the  good  of  the  Church  belong- 
ing to  the  diocese  of  Hippo.  If  you  do  not  harken  to  me 
asking  this  favor  as  a  friend,  harken  to  me  offering  this  coun- 
sel as  a  bishop ;  although,  indeed,  it  would  not  be  presumption 
for  me  to  say — since  I  am  addressing  a  Christian  and  espec- 
ially in  such  a  case  as  this — that  it  becomes  you  to  harken  to 
me  as  a  bishop  commanding  with  authority.  ...  I  am  aware 
that  the  principal  charge  of  law  cases  connected  with  the 
affairs  of  the  Church  has  been  devolved  on  your  Excellency, 
but  as  I  believe  that  this  particular  case  belongs  to  the  very 
illustrious  and  honorable  proconsul,  I  have  written  a  letter 
to  him  also,  which  I  beg  you  not  to  refuse  to  give  to  him,  or, 
if  necessary,  recommend  to  his  attention ;  and  I  entreat  you 
both  not  to  resent  our  intercession  or  counsel,  or  anxiety,  as 
officious. 

Another  letter  of  412  from  Augustine  to  Marcellinus 
show^s  that  the  former's  policy  of  forcible  conversions 
through  the  medium  of  the  rigor  of  the  law  was  effica- 
cious.   The  letter  reads :  ^ 

The  acts  which  your  Excellency  promised  to  send  me  I  am 
eagerly  expecting,  and  I  am  longing  to  have  them  read  as 
soon  as  possible  in  the  church  at  Hippo,  and  also,  if  it  can  be 
done,  in  all  the  churches  established  within  the  diocese,  that 
all  may  hear  and  become  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  men 


>  Aug.,  £/»..  139. 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DON  ATI  ST  S  i8l 

who  have  confessed  their  crimes,  not  because  the  fear  of  God 
subdued  them  to  repentance,  but  because  the  rigor  of  their 
judges  broke  through  the  hardness  of  their  most  cruel  hearts, 
.  .  .  some  of  them  persisting  in  the  impiety  of  schism  in 
fellowship  with  such  a  multitude  of  atrocious  villains,  while 
deserting  the  peace  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  the  pretext  of 
the  unwillingness  to  be  polluted  by  others'  crimes ;  others  de- 
claring that  they  will  not  forsake  the  schismatics,  even 
though  the  certainty  of  Catholic  truth  and  the  perver- 
sity of  the  Donatists  have  been  demonstrated  to  them.  The 
work,  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  entrust  to  your  diligence, 
is  of  great  importance.  My  heart's  desire  is  that  many  simi- 
lar Donatist  cases  may  be  tried  and  decided  by  you  as  these 
have  been,  and  that  in  this  way  the  crimes  and  the  insane  ob- 
stinacy of  these  men  may  be  often  brought  to  light ;  and  that 
the  acts  recording  these  proceedings  may  be  published,  and 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  all  men. 

As  to  the  statement  in  your  letter,  that  you  are  uncertain 
whether  you  ought  to  commend  the  said  acts  to  be  published 
in  Theoprepia,  my  reply  is,  let  this  be  done,  if  a  large  mul- 
titude of  hearers  can  be  gathered  there ;  if  this  be  not  the  case, 
some  other  place  of  more  general  resort  must  be  provided ;  it 
must  not,  however,  be  omitted  on  any  account. 

As  to  the  punishment  of  these  m.en,  I  beseech  you,  to  make 
it  something  less  severe  than  sentence  of  death,  although  they 
have,  by  their  own  confession,  been  guilty  of  such  grievous 
crimes.  I  ask  this  out  of  regard  both  for  our  own  consciences 
and  for  the  testimony  thereby  given  to  Catholic  clemency. 
For  this  is  the  special  advantage  secured  to  us  by  their  con- 
fession, that  the  Catholic  Church  had  found  an  opportunity  of 
maintaining  and  exhibiting  forbearance  towards  her  most  vio- 
lent enemies ;  since  in  a  case  where  such  cruelty  was  prac- 
tised, any  punishment  short  of  death  will  be  seen  by  all  men 
to  proceed  from  great  leniency.  And  although  such  treatment 
appears  to  some  of  our  communion,  whose  minds  are  agitated 
by  these  atrocities,  to  be  less  than  the  crimes  deserve,  and  to 
have  somewhat  the  aspect  of  weakness  and  dereliction  of 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


duty,  nevertheless  when  the  feelings,  which  are  wont  to  be  im- 
moderately excited  while  such  events  are  recent,  have  subsided 
after  a  time,  the  kindness  shown  to  the  guilty  will  shine  with 
more  conspicuous  brightness,  and  men  will  take  much  more 
pleasure  in  reading  these  acts  and  showing  them  to  others,  my 
lord  justly  distinguished  and  son  very  much  beloved  and 
longed  for. 

The  laws  were  applied  equally  rigorously  against  Pri- 
mianists  and  Maximianists.*  Buildings  and  goods  were 
confiscated."  At  Hippo  the  property  of  the  Donatists  was 
turned  over  to  the  Church  of  Augustine.'  At  Uzali  and  at 
Carthage  the  Donatist  churches  went  to  the  Catholics.*  The 
findings  of  the  court  were  published  and  circulated  together 
with  the  edict  of  Marcellinus.''  Augustine  got  out  an  edi- 
tion of  the  proceedings  together  with  an  abridgment 
thereof.*  These  acts,  Gesta  Collationis,  were  read  at  the 
beginning  of  each  year  in  many  cities,  as  at  Carthage,  Tha- 
gasta,  and  Hippo.'  And,  as  the  Donatists  continued  to  al- 
lege fraud,  the  Council  of  Numidia  on  the  eleventh  of  June, 
412,  decided  to  instruct  the  multitude  by  a  synodal  letter 
which  Augustine  wrote.  In  this  Warning  to  the  Dona- 
tists, he  recounted  the  debates  and  drew  conclusions.^  Au- 
gustine preached  many  sermons  on  the  subject "  and  wrote 
to  the  imperial  commissioners,  proconsuls,  vicar  and  the 
newly  converted. He  debated  with  Emeritus  of  Caesarea 

>  Aug.,  Ad.  Donat.  post  Coll.,  17,  21. 

'Aug.,  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  36,  46;  37,  50;  38,  51. 

'  Aug.,  In  Johan.  Evang.  Tract.,  vi,  25. 

*  Aug.,  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  6,  7.   De  Mirac.  Sane.  Steph.,  i,  7. 

*  Sententia  Cognitoris.  *  Aug.,  Ret.,  ii,  65 ;  Brev.  Coll.,  i,  Praef. 
'  Aug.,  Gesta  cum  Enter.,  4. 

^Aug.,  Ret.,  ii,  66;  Ep.,  141;  Ad  Donat.  post  Coll. 
'  Aug.,  Serm.,  10,  99,  112,  138,  147,  164,  182,  183,  357,  358,  359;  Enarr. 
in  Ps.,  67,  147 ;  In  Johan.  Evang.  Tract.,  iv-xii ;  Ep.,  144,  1-3. 
»•  Aug.,  Epp.  86,  133.  139,  142,  144-  iSi,  iSS.  i8s,  204 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS  183 


and  Gaudentius  of  Thamugadi/  And  he  composed,  in  ad- 
dition to  his  Ad  Donatistas  post  CoUationein'  (412),  De 
Correctione  Donatistarum^  (417)  >  which  contained  a 
careful  exposition  of  his  attitude  towards  the  legitimate 
use  of  persecution,  and  the  laws  of  repression.  It  was  ad- 
dressed to  Count  Boniface  and  reads :  * 

To  Boniface,  Concerning  the  Correction  of  the  Donatists.  .  .  . 
Let  all  be  called  to  salvation,  let  all  be  recalled  from  the  path 
of  destruction, — those  who  may,  by  sermons  of  Catholic 
preachers ;  those  who  may,  by  edicts  of  Catholic  princes.  .  .  . 
Whosoever,  therefore,  refuses  to  obey  the  laws  of  the  Em- 
perors which  are  enacted  against  the  truth  of  God,  wins  for 
himself  a  great  reward;  but  whosoever  refuses  to  obey  the 
laws  of  the  Emperors  which  are  enacted  in  behalf  of  truth, 
wins  for  himself  great  condemnation.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  Again  I  ask,  if  good  and  holy  men  never  inflict  perse- 
cution upon  anyone,  but  only  suffer  it,  whose  words  do  they 
think  those  are  in  the  psalms  where  we  read,  "  I  have  per- 
sued  mine  enemies,  and  overtaken  them;  neither  did  I  turn 
again  till  they  were  consumed "  ?  If.  therefore,  we  wish 
either  to  declare  or  to  recognize  the  truth,  there  is  a  persecu- 
tion of  unrighteousness,  which  the  impious  inflict  upon  the 
Church  of  Christ ;  and  there  is  a  righteous  persecution,  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  inflicts  upon  the  impious.  She,  there- 
fore, is  blessed  in  suffering  persecution  for  righteousness' 
sake ;  but  they  are  miserable,  suffering  persecution  for  un- 
righteousness. Moreover,  she  persecutes  in  the  spirit  of  love, 
they  in  the  spirit  of  wrath ;  she  that  she  may  correct,  they  that 
they  may  overthrow ;  she  that  she  may  recall  from  error, 
they  that  they  may  drive  headlong  into  error.  Finally,  she 
persecutes  her  enemies  and  arrests  them,  until  they  become 

*  Aug.,  Ret.,  ii,  72 ;  ii,  77 ;  ii,  85. 
» Ibid.,  ii,  66. 

'  Ibid.,  ii,  74 ;  Ep.,  185. 

*  Aug.,  Ep.,  IBs  (417  A.  D.). 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


weary  in  their  vain  opinions,  so  that  they  should  make  ad- 
vance in  the  truth ;  but  they  returning  evil  for  good,  because 
we  take  measures  for  their  good,  to  secure  their  eternal  salva- 
tion, endeavor  even  to  strip  us  of  our  temporal  safety,  being 
so  in  love  with  murder,  that  they  commit  it  on  their  own  per- 
sons when  they  cannot  find  victims  in  any  others.  For  in  pro- 
portion as  the  Christian  charity  of  the  Church  endeavors  to 
deliver  them  from  that  destruction,  so  that  none  of  them  shall 
die,  so  their  madness  endeavors  either  to  slay  us,  that  they 
may  feed  the  lust  of  their  own  cruelty,  or  even  to  kill  them- 
selves, that  they  may  not  seem  to  have  lost  the  power  of 
putting  men  to  death.  .  .  . 

Whence  it  appears  that  great  mercy  is  shown  towards  them, 
when  by  the  force  of  those  very  imperial  laws  they  are  in  the 
first  instance  rescued  against  their  will  from  that  sect  in 
which,  through  the  teaching  of  lying  devils,  they  learned  those 
evil  doctrines,  so  that  afterwards  they  might  be  made  whole 
in  the  Catholic  Church.  .  . 

It  is  indeed  better  (as  no  one  ever  could  deny)  that  men 
should  be  led  to  worship  God  by  teaching,  than  that  they 
should  be  driven  to  it  by  fear  of  punishment  or  pain;  but  it 
does  not  follow  that  because  the  former  course  produces  the 
better  men,  therefore  those  who  do  not  yield  to  it  should  be 
neglected.  .  .  .  Some,  indeed,  set  before  us  the  sentiments  of 
a  certain  secular  author  who  said,  "  'Tis  well,  I  ween,  by 
shame  the  young  to  train,  and  dread  of  meanness,  rather  than 
by  pain."  This  is  unquestionably  true.  But  whilst  those  are 
better  who  are  guided  aright  by  love,  those  are  certainly  more 
numerous  who  are  corrected  by  fear.  .  .  .  For  in  another 
place  he  says  that  not  only  the  servant,  but  also  the  undis- 
ciplined son,  must  be  corrected  with  stripes,  and  that  with 
great  fruits  as  the  result ;  for  he  says :  "  Thou  shalt  beat  him 
with  the  rod,  and  thou  shalt  deliver  him  from  hell."  .  .  . 

Why,  therefore,  should  not  the  Church  use  force  in  com- 
pelling her  lost  sons  to  return,  if  the  lost  sons  compelled 
others  to  their  destruction?  .  .  .  Since  then  they  cannot  show 
that  the  destination  is  bad  to  which  they  are  compelled,  they 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS  185 


maintain  that  they  ought  not  to  be  compelled  by  force  even 
to  what  is  good.  .  .  . 

And  as  to  the  charge  that  they  bring  against  us,  that  we 
covet  and  plunder  their  possessions,  I  would  that  they  would 
become  Catholics,  and  possess  in  peace  and  love  with  us,  not 
only  what  they  call  theirs,  but  also  what  confessedly  belongs 
to  us.  But  they  are  so  blinded  with  the  desire  of  uttering 
calumnies,  that  they  do  not  observe  how  inconsistent  their 
statements  are  with  one  another.  At  any  rate,  they  assert, 
and  seem  to  make  it  a  subject  of  most  invidious  complaint 
among  themselves,  that  we  constrain  them  to  come  into  our 
communion  by  violent  authority  of  the  laws, — which  we  cer- 
tainly should  not  do  by  any  means,  if  we  wished  to  gain  pos- 
session of  their  property.  .  .  . 

Conversions  were  innumerable;  great  multitudes  re- 
turned to  the  Church,^  even  whole  cities  at  a  time,^  as 
Caesarea  in  Mauritania  and  Fussala  near  Hippo.*  And,  as 
we  shall  see  later,  the  Councils  were  actively  engaged  in 
restoring  the  converted  to  a  position  in  the  Church.* 

The  Catholic  triumph  was  stoutly  resisted  in  places.  In 
Numidia  and  Mauritania  partisans  for  reconciliation  were 
in  the  minority  and  the  masses  w^ere  terrified  by  the  all 
powerful  fanatics.^  The  majority  of  the  Donatist  bishops 
were  fatihful  to  their  principles.®  Some  resisted  conversion 

*  Aug.,  Ep.,  204,  I,  "  Ingentes  eorum  multitudines " ;  Ep.,  185,  2,  7 ; 
3,  13;  8,  32-33;  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  24,  27;  Epp.,  142;  144;  208;  Possid., 
op.  cit.,  15. 

*  Aug.,  Gest.  cum  Emer.,  2. 
»  Aug..  Ep.,  209,  2. 

*  Cf.  infra,  pp.  195-196. 

*  Aug.,  Ep.,  185,  7.  30. 

*  Ibid.,  141,  I,  12;  Aug.,  Brev.  Coll.,  iii,  18,  36:  Ad  Donat.  post  Coll., 
i,  i;  4,  6;  12,  16;  13,  17;  17,  21;  19,  25;  34,  57;  38,  58;  Ret.,  ii,  66; 
Possid.,  op.  cit.,  16. 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


even  at  the  risk  of  their  lives/  Many  were  exiled,''  some 
committed  suicide.'^  Churches  that  had  been  taken  away 
were  burned,*  and  the  circumcelliones  raged  against  the 
converted  and  the  propagandists,'  they  burned  the  houses 
of  clerics,  churches  and  sacred  books."  Any  hesitancy  on 
the  part  of  the  orthodox  clergy  to  face  the  situation  caused 
the  Councils  to  threaten  excommunication  for  neglect  of 
duty  in  regaining  the  Donatists.' 

Marcellinus  quite  naturally  had  made  many  enemies  and 
when  he  and  his  brother,  the  proconsul  Apringus,  were  ac- 
cused as  accomplices  in  the  revolt  of  Heraclian,  not  even 
the  most  strenuous  efforts  of  their  friends,  the  Catholic 
bishops  (who  even  appealed  to  Rome  in  their  behalf) 
could  save  their  lives.  They  were  executed  by  Count  Mari- 
nus  at  Carthage  on  the  thirteenth  of  September,  413.  Cae- 
cilianus  succeeded  Marcellinus,  but  before  he  could  gain  the 
support  of  the  African  men  of  moment  he  was  forced  to 
convince  Augustine  and  the  orthodox  that  he  had  not  been 
instrumental  in  the  overthrow  of  their  former  champion, 
Marcellinus.*  This  change  of  leaders  was  looked  upon  as 
a  reaction  by  the  heretics  as  well  as  by  the  orthodox.  The 
Donatists  pretended  that  the  condemnation  of  Marcellinus 
entailed  the  annulment  of  all  his  acts,  including  the  sen- 
tence of  the  year  411  and  the  edicts  of  proscription.  The 
government,  however,  had  its  policies  definitely  in  mind  and 
so  issued  on  the  thirtieth  of  August,  414,  a  confirmation  of 

*  Aug.,  Ep.,  173,  I  and  4. 

'Aug.,  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  14,  15;  16,  17;  18,  19. 
'  Aug.,  Ep.,  204,  1-2;  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  37,  47. 
*Ibid.,  i,  6,  7. 

5  Aug.,  Epp.,  133,  I  ;  134,  2;  139,  1-2. 

•Aug.,  Ep.,  185,  7,  30;  Gest.  cum  Enter.,  9;  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  15. 
'  Cod.  Can.  Ecc.  Af.,  Can.,  123-124. 

•  Aug.,  Ep.,  151,  3-9 ;  cf.  Oros.,  op.  cit.,  vii,  42. 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS  187 


all  the  acts  of  the  previous  administration :  ^  "  Whatever 
has  been  enacted  against  the  Donatists  by  the  care  and 
solicitude  of  Marcellinus,  we  will  that  this  be  transcribed 
in  the  public  records  and  given  perpetual  force.  For  a 
public  trust  ought  not  to  perish  with  the  death  of  the  ad- 
vocate." 

And  by  a  law  of  the  seventeenth  of  June,  414,  the  Em- 
peror ordered  Julian,  the  proconsul,  to  proceed  against  the 
heretics : 

We  decree  that  the  Donatists  and  other  heretics,  whom  till 
now  our  clemency  has  protected,  are  to  be  suppressed  by  the 
competent  authority.  By  clear  statements  they  are  to  be  given 
to  understand  that  they  are  to  be  incapable  of  testating  or  of 
entering  into  any  contract,  and  that,  branded  with  perpetual 
infamy,  they  are  to  be  segregated  from  honorable  gatherings 
and  public  meetings.  Those  places  in  which  up  till  now  the 
dire  superstition  has  been  maintained  are  to  be  given  over  to 
the  venerable  Catholic  Church ;  and  all  their  bishops,  presby- 
ters, priests  and  ministers  are  to  be  despoiled  of  all  their  pos- 
sessions and  sent  in  exile  to  separate  islands  and  provinces. 
And  if  anyone  shall  have  received  and  sought  to  conceal  per- 
sons fleeing  from  the  ordained  punishment,  let  him  know  that 
his  patrimony  is  to  be  confiscated  and  that  he  himself  must 
undergo  the  punishment  decreed  against  these  persons. 
Losses  of  property  and  the  fines  that  are  to  be  imposed  upon 
men,  women,  individuals  and  dignitaries  we  fix  definitely  ac- 
cording to  their  rank.  Tf  anyone  shall  have  been  inducted 
into  the  office  of  proconsul,  vicar  or  count  of  the  fir.st  order, 
and  has  not  turned  his  mind  and  purpose  to  the  observance 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  let  them  be  fined  two  hundred  pounds  of 

^  Cod.  Theod..  xvi,  5,  55.  "Juliano  Proconsuli  Africae.  Notione 
et  sollicitudine  Marcellini  spectabilis  memoriae  viri  contra  Donatistas 
gesta  sunt  ea,  quae  translata  in  publica  monumenta  habere  volumus 
perpetuam  firmitatem.  Neque  enim  morte  cognitoris  perire  debet  pub- 
lica fides." 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


silver.  And  lest  it  be  thought  that  this  alone  may  suffice  to 
bar  further  prosecution,  as  often  as  he  shall  be  proved  to  have 
participated  in  such  communion,  so  often  let  the  fine  be  col- 
lected, and  if  after  five  times  it  is  found  that  he  has  not  been 
recalled  from  error  by  amercements,  then  let  it  be  referred  to 
our  clemency  to  judge  more  severely  concerning  his  entire 
estate  and  position.  Other  men  of  rank  (honorati)  we  sub- 
ject to  conditions  of  this  sort,  to  wit:  a  senator  who  is  pro- 
tected by  no  additional  privilege  of  office,  if  found  in  the  herd 
of  Donatists,  is  to  pay  a  fine  of  one  hundred  pounds  of  silver ; 
those  who  have  held  priestly  offixe  shall  be  obliged  to  pay  the 
same ;  the  ten  leading  curials,  fifty  pounds ;  the  other  decur- 
ions,  ten  pounds  of  silver,  in  so  far  as  they  prefer  to  remain 
in  heresy.  The  lessees  of  our  domains,  if  they  shall  have 
permitted  these  practices  on  lands  that  form  part  of  our  ven- 
erable property,  shall  be  forced  to  pay  as  a  penalty  the  same 
amount  that  they  have  been  accustomed  to  pay  as  rent.  Let 
the  same  provision  of  this  our  sacred  decree  apply  to  those 
who  hold  in  emphyteusis.  Furthermore,  if  the  lessees  of 
private  property  allow  conventicles  to  be  held  on  these  es- 
tates or  if  the  sacred  mysteries  shall  have  been  polluted 
through  their  indulgence,  let  the  judges  refer  it  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  owners,  whose  business  it  shall  be  if  they  wish  to 
evade  the  punishment  of  this  sacred  command,  either  to  cor- 
rect the  erring  or  to  cancel  the  leases  of  those  persisting,  and 
to  provide  for  their  lands  masters  who  keep  the  divine  com- 
mands. If  they  neglect  to  attend  to  these  matters  they  shall 
be  fined,  under  the  provisions  of  duly  promulgated  law,  to  the 
»  amount  of  the  rents  which  they  are  accustomed  to  receive,  so 
that  whatever  might  have  enured  to  their  private  resources 
shall  be  confiscated  to  our  treasury.  Assistants  of  the  various 
provincial  judges  who  shall  be  detected  in  this  error  are  to  be 
fined  thirty  pounds  of  silver;  and  if  after  having  been  fined 
five  times  they  are  unwilling  to  abstain,  let  them  be  flogged 
and  sent  into  exile.  The  severest  constraint  shall  be  employed 
to  keep  slaves  and  coloni  from  such  audacities.  If  coloni,  cor- 
rected by  the  lash,  shall  persist  in  this  purpose,  let  them  be 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS  189 


fined  a  third  part  of  their  personal  property.  And  let  all 
that  may  be  collected  from  men  or  places  of  this  sort  be  turned 
over  to  our  treasury/ 

1  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  54.  "  Juliano  Proc.  Afric.  Donatistas  ad- 
que  haereticos,  quos  patientia  clementiae  nostrae  nunc  usque  servavit, 
conpetenti  constituimus  auctoritate  percelli,  quatenus  evident!  prae- 
ceptione  se  agnoscant  et  intestabiles  et  nullam  potestatem  alicuius 
ineundi  habere  contractus,  sed  perpetua  inustos  infamia  a  coetibus 
honestis  et  a  conventu  publico  segregandos.  Ea  vero  loca,  in  quibus 
dira  superstitio  nunc  usque  servata  est,  catholicae  venerabili  ecclesiae 
socientur,  ita  ut  episcopi  presbyteri  omnesque  antistites  eorum  et  min- 
istri  spoliati  omnibus  facultatibus  ad  singulas  quasque  insulas  adque 
provincias  exulandi  gratia  dirigantur.  Quisque  autein  hos  fugientes 
propositam  ultionem  occultandi  causa  susceperit,  sciat  et  patrimonium 
suum  fisci  nostri  conpendiis  adgregandum  et  se  poenam,  quae  his  pro- 
posita  est,  subiturum.  Damna  quoque  patrimonii  poenasque  pecuniar- 
ias  evidenter  inponimus  viris  mulieribus,  personis  singulis  et  dignitat- 
ibus  pro  qualitate  sui  quae  debeant  inrogari.  Si  igitur  proconsulari 
aut  vicariano  vel  comitivae  primi  ordinis  quisque  fuerit  honore  sub- 
cinctus,  nisi  ad  observantiam  catholicam  mentem  propositumque  con- 
verterit,  ducentas  argenti  libras  cogetur  exsolvere  fisci  nostri  utilitatibus 
adgregandas.  Ac  ne  id  solum  putetur  ad  resecandam  intentionem  posse 
sufficere,  quotienscumque  ad  communionem  talem  accessisse  fuerit  con- 
futatus,  totiens  multam  exigatur,  et  si  quinquies  eundem  constiterit 
nee  damnis  ab  errore  revocari,  tunc  ad  nostram  clementiam  referatur, 
ut  de  solida  eius  substantia  ac  de  statu  acerbius  judicemus.  Huiusmodi 
autem  condicionibus  etiam  honoratos  reliquos  obligamus,  scilicet  ut 
senator,  qui  nullo  munitus  extrinsecus  privilegio  dignitatis,  inventus 
in  grege  Donatistarum  centum  libras  solvat  argenti,  sacerdotales  eandem 
summam  cogantur  exsolvere,  decem  primi  curiales  quinquaginta  libras 
argenti  addicantur,  reliqui  decuriones  X  solvant  libras  argenti,  qui- 
cumque  in  haeresi  maluerint  permanere.  Conductores  autem  domus 
nostrae  si  haec  in  praediis  venerabilis  substantiae  uti  permiserint, 
tantum  pensione  poenae  nomine  cogantur  inferre,  quantum  in  con- 
ductione  pensitare  consuerunt.  Eadem  quoque  enfyteuticarios  auctori- 
tas  sacrae  definitionis  adstringet.  Conductores  vero  privatorum  si 
permiserint  in  isdem  praediis  conventicula  haberi  vel  eorum  patientia 
sacrum  mysterium  fuerit  inquinatum,  referatur  per  judices  ad  scientiam 
dominorum,  quorum  intererit,  si  poenam  volunt  sacrae  jussionis  evadere, 
aut  errantes  corrigere  aut  perseverantes  commutare  ac  tales  praediis 
suis  praebere  rectores,  qui  divina  praecepta  custodiant.  Quod  si  pro- 
curare  neglexerint,  hi  quoque  in  pensiones,  quas  accipere  consuerunt, 
prolatae  praeceptionis  auctoritate  multentur.  ut,  quod  ad  conpendia 


I  go 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


All  former  enactments  were  renewed  by  the  law  of  the 
twenty-fifth  of  August,  415,  which  reads:  "Let  all  who 
have  corrupted  their  rites  with  heretical  superstition  know 
that,  if  hereafter  in  the  rash  purpose  of  carrying  on  their 
criminal  practices  they  shall  endeavor  to  assemble  in  public, 
they  are  to  be  visited  with  proscription  of  goods  and  capital 
punishment,  as  enemies  of  sacrosanct  law,  to  the  end  that 
true  and  divine  reverence  may  not  be  defiled."  ^ 

The  successor  of  Honorius,  Valentinian  III,  carried  out 
these  same  policies  regarding  the  African  heretics  and 
pagans.  He  issued  the  following  law  of  the  sixth  of  July, 
or  of  the  fourth  of  August,  425 :  "  To  Georgius,  proconsul 
of  Africa.  We  follow  up  all  heresies,  all  breaches  of  faith, 
all  schisms  and  heathen  superstitions  and  all  errors  hostile 
to  the  Catholic  law.  If  anyone  ...  let  the  penalty  estab- 
lished by  our  clemency  attach  to  the  acts,  and  let  the  authors 
of  sacrilegious  superstition  and  those  who  knowingly  par- 
ticipate therein  understand  that  they  are  to  be  punished 
with  proscription,  to  the  end  that,  if  they  cannot  be  drawn 
back  from  the  error  of  faithlessness  by  reason,  they  may  at 
least  be  summoned  back  by  terror,  and,  all  recourse  in  the 
way  of  petition  being  forever  denied,  they  may  be  pun- 

eorum  pervenire  poterat,  sacro  jungatur  aerario.  Officiales  autem  diver- 
sorum  judicum  si  in  hoc  errore  fuerint  deprehensi,  ad  triginta  librarum 
argenti  inlationem  poenae  nomine  teneantur,  ita  ut,  si  quinquies  con- 
demnati  abstinere  noluerint,  coherciti  verberibus  exilio  mancipentur. 
Servos  vero  ot  colonos  cohercitio  ab  huiusmodi  ausibus  severissima 
vindicabit.  Ac  si  coloni  verberibus  coacti  in  proposito  perduraverint, 
tunc  tertia  peculii  sui  parte  multentur.  Adque  omnia,  quae  ex  huius- 
modi generibus  hominum  locisque  colligi  poterunt,  ad  largitiones  sacras 
ilico  dirigantur." 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  56.  "  Heracliano  Com.  Afric.  Sciant  cuncti, 
qui  ritus  suos  haeresi  superstitionis  obtepserant,  sacrosanctae  legis 
inimici  plectendos  se  poena  et  proscribtionis  et  sanguinis,  si  ultra  con- 
venire  per  publicum  exercendi  sceleris  sui  temeritate  tempaverint,  ne 
qua  vera  divinaque  reverentia  contagione  temeretur." 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


191 


ished  with  the  severity  due  their  crimes."  ^  And  another 
law  of  the  sixth  of  August,  425,  reads :  "  We  command  the 
Manichaeans,  heretics  or  schismatics,  and  every  sect  hos- 
tile to  the  Catholic  faith  be  thrust  out  of  the  very  sight  of 
the  various  cities,  that  these  may  not  be  defiled  by  the  con- 
tagion of  the  presence  of  the  guilty.  We  therefore  com- 
mand that  all  persons  who  are  tainted  with  these  unhappy 
errors  be  excluded  unless  timely  amendment  come  to  their 
aid."  -  A  law  of  the  thirtieth  of  ^lay,  428.  confirms  all 
of  the  previous  laws.    It  reads: 

The  madness  of  the  heretics  is  to  be  repressed  as  follows,  to 
wit:  In  the  first  place  if  anywhere  they  hold  churches  which 
they  have  taken  from  the  orthodox,  let  them  not  doubt  that 
these  are  to  be  turned  over  to  the  Catholic  Church,  for  it  is 
not  to  be  tolerated  that  those  who  ought  not  to  have  churches 
of  their  own  should  hold  any  longer  those  possessed  or  estab- 
lished by  the  orthodox,  which  in  their  boldness  they  have  in- 
vaded. In  the  next  place,  if  they  join  to  themselves  other 
clerics,  or,  as  they  fancy,  priests,  let  a  fine  of  ten  pounds  of 
gold  be  exacted  from  each  individual  who  may  have  done  this 
or  suffered  it  to  be  done  and  let  this  be  paid  into  our  treasury ; 
and  if  poverty  be  alleged,  let  the  fine  be  collected  from  the  en- 
tire body  of  the  clergy  of  the  same  superstition  or  from  the 

^  Ibid.,  xvi,  5,  63.  "  Georgio  Proconsuli  Africae.  Omnes  haereses 
omnesque  perfidias,  omnia  schismata  superstitionesque  gentilium, 
omnes  catholicae  legi  inimicos  insectamur  errores.  Si  quos  vero  .  .  . 
haec  quoque  clementiae  nostrae  statuta  poena  comitetur  et  noverint 
sacrilegae  superstitionis  auctores  participes  conscios  proscribtione  plec- 
tendos,  ut  ab  errore  perfidiae,  si  ratione  retrahi  nequeunt,  saltem  ter- 
rore  revocentur  et  universo  supplicationum  aditu  in  perpetuum  deneg- 
ato  criminibus  debita  severitate  plectantur." 

-  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  64.  "  Basso  Comiti  Rerum  Privatarum.  Post 
alia;  Manichaeos  haereticos  sive  schismaticos  omnemque  sectam  cath- 
olicis  inimicam  ab  aspectu  urbium  diversarum  exterminari  praecip- 
imus,  ut  nee  praesentiae  criminosorum  contagione  foedentur.  Omnes 
igitur  personas  erroris  infausti  jubemus  excludi,  nisi  his  emendatio 
matura  subvenerit." 


192 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


votive  offerings.  Furthermore,  since  all  are  not  to  be  punished 
with  the  same  austerity,  let  it  not  be  permitted  to  the  Arians, 
Macedonians,  and  Apollinarians,  whose  crime  is  that,  deceived 
by  evil  meditation,  they  believe  lies  concerning  the  source  of 
truth,  to  have  a  church  in  any  city;  from  the  Novatians  and 
Sabbatians  let  all  license  for  innovation  be  taken  away,  if  by 
chance  they  attempt  any ;  let  not  the  Eunomians,  Valentinians, 
Montanists  or  Priscillianists,  Phrygians,  Marcianists,  Borbor- 
ians,  Messalians,  Euchitae  or  Enthusiastae,  Donatists,  Audi- 
ans,  Hydroparastats,  Tascodrogits,  Photians,  Palians,  Mar- 
cellians  or  the  Manichaeans,  who  have  reached  the  very  vilest 
depth  of  sin,  be  allowed  to  assemble  and  pray  anywhere  on 
Roman  soil.  And  let  the  Manichaeans,  furthermore,  be  ex- 
pelled from  the  cities.  For  to  none  of  all  these  should  any 
place  be  left  where  wrong  may  be  done  to  the  very  elements. 
No  imperial  service  should  be  permitted  them  except  in  the 
provincial  guards  and  the  camps.  No  right  whatever  is  con- 
ceded of  making  or  taking  gifts  or  of  leaving  or  receiving 
property  by  testament  or  last  will.  All  the  laws  framed  and 
promulgated  long  ago  and  at  diverse  times  against  these  and 
the  others  who  oppose  our  faith  are  to  be  forever  in  full  force 
and  active  observance,  whether  they  relate  to  donations  made 
to  the  churches  of  the  heretics,  or  to  goods  left  by  last  will  in 
whatever  form,  or  to  those  private  buildings  in  which  they 
assemble  with  the  consent  or  connivance  of  the  owner  and 
which  are  to  be  taken  over  by  us  for  the  Catholic  Church,  or 
to  the  steward  who  does  this  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
owner  and  who  is  to  be  fined  ten  pounds  of  gold  or  exiled,  if 
he  be  a  free  man,  or  deported  to  the  mines  after  having  been 
flogged,  if  he  be  of  servile  condition ;  the  purpose  of  all  these 
laws  being  that  they  shall  not  be  permitted  to  convene  in  a 
public  place  or  to  build  churches  for  themselves  or  to  plan  any 
evasion  of  the  laws,  all  aid,  civil  or  military,  whether  of  the 
curiae  or  the  defensores  or  the  judges  being  denied  them  under 
the  penalty  of  a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  of  gold.  All  those  laws, 
moreover,  remain  in  force  which  have  been  promulgated  con- 
cerning the  imperial  service,  concerning  the  complete  denial 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS  193 

of  the  right  of  donation  and  testation  or  the  concession  of 
such  right  under  restrictions  to  certain  persons  and  concern- 
ing varying  penalties  in  the  case  of  different  heretics;  pro- 
vided always  that  no  special  exemption  obtained  contrary  to 
the  laws  shall  be  valid.  To  none  of  the  heretics  shall  it  be 
permitted  to  rebaptize  freemen  or  their  own  slaves  who  have 
already  been  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  orthodox ;  nor 
to  prohibit  those  whom  they  may  have  bought  or  whom  they 
possess  under  any  title  and  who  are  not  yet  adherents  of  their 
superstition  from  following  the  religion  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Whoever  does  this  or,  being  a  free-born  man,  allows 
it  to  be  done  to  him  or  does  not  report  the  deed,  shall  be  con- 
demned to  exile  and  a  fine  of  ten  pounds  of  gold,  and  in  either 
case  there  shall  be  forfeiture  of  the  right  of  testament  and 
donation.  All  of  this  we  order  so  executed  that  no  judge  may 
direct  that  a  crime,  made  known  to  him,  be  visited  with  a 
lesser  punishment  or  go  entirely  unpunished,  unless  he  be  pre- 
pared to  suffer  that  penalty  which  by  his  dissimulation  he  has 
spared  others.^ 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  65.  "  Florentio  P.  P.  Haereticorum  ita  est 
reprimenda  insania,  ut  ante  omnia  quas  ab  orthodoxis  abreptas  tenent 
ubicumque  ecclesias  statim  catholicae  ecclesiae  tradendas  esse  non 
ambigant,  quia  ferri  non  potest,  ut,  qui  nec  proprias  habere  debuerant, 
ab  orthodoxis  possessas  aut  conditas  suaque  lemeritate  invasas  ultra 
detineant.  Dein  ut,  si  alios  sibi  adjungant  clericos  vel,  ut  ipsi  aestim- 
ant,  sacerdotes,  decern  librarum  auri  multa  per  singulos  ab  eo,  qui 
fecerit  et  qui  fieri  passus  sit  vel,  si  paupertatem  praetendant,  de  com- 
muni  clericorum  eiusdem  superstitionis  corpore  vel  etiam  donariis 
ipsis  extorta  nostro  inferatur  aerario.  Post  haec,  quoniam  non  omnes 
eadem  austeritate  plectendi  sunt,  Arrianis  quidem,  Macedonianis  et 
ApolHnarianis,  quorum  hoc  est  facinus,  quod  nocenti  meditatione  de- 
cepti  credunt  de  veritatis  fonte  mendacia,  intra  nullam  civitatem  eccle- 
siam  habere  liceat ;  Novatianis  autem  et  Sabbatianis  omnis  innovationis 
adimatur  licentia,  si  quam  forte  temptaverint ;  Eunomiani  vero,  Valen- 
tiniani,  Montanistae  seu  Priscillianistae,  Fryges,  Marcianistae,  Borbori- 
ani,  Messaliani,  Euchitae  sive  Enthusiastae,  Donatistae,  Audiani,  Hy- 
droparastatae,  Tascodrogitae,  Fotiniani,  Pauliani,  Marcelliani  et  qui  ad 
imam  usque  scelerum  nequitiam  pervenerunt  Manichaei  nusquam  in 
Romano  solo  conveniendi  orandique  habeant  facultatem;  Manichaeis 


194 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


After  the  Donatists  had  been  deprived  of  legal  rights 
and  penalties  had  been  instituted  against  the  heresy,  careful 
oversight  on  the  part  of  the  officials  and  clergy  resulted  in 
numerous  conversions.  The  African  Councils  were  busy 
with  plans  for  the  reorganization  necessitated  by  the  influx 
of  reconciled  communities.  A  Council  of  Byzance  in  May, 
418,  decided  "  that  the  reconciliation  of  the  converted 
schismatics  ought  to  be  effected  by  the  simple  laying  on  of 
hands."  ^    And  at  least  two  hundred  of  the  bishops  as- 

etiam  de  civitatibus  expellendis,  quoniam  nihil  his  omnibus  reliquen- 
dum  loci  est,  in  quo  ipsis  etiam  dementis  fiat  injuria.  Nulla  his  peni- 
tus  praeter  cohortalinam  in  provinciis  et  castrensem  indulgenda  militia; 
nullo  donationis  faciendae  invicem,  nullo  testamenti  aut  voluntatis  ul- 
timae  penitus  jure  concesso,  cunctisque  legibus,  quae  contra  hos  ceteros- 
que,  qui  nostrae  fidei  refragantur,  olim  latae  sunt  diversisque  promul- 
gatae  temporibus,  semper  viridi  observantia  valituris,  sive  de  donation- 
ibus  in  haereticorum  factis  ecclesias,  sive  ex  ultima  voluntate  rebus 
qualitercumque  relictis,  sive  de  privatis  aedificiis,  in  quae  domino  per- 
mittente  vel  conivente  convenerint,  venerandae  nobis  catholicae  vin- 
dicandis  ecclesiae,  sive  de  procuratore,  qui  hoc  nesciente  domino 
fecerit,  decem  librarum  auri  multam  vel  exilium,  si  sit  ingenuus,  sub- 
ituro,  metallum  vero  post  verbera,  si  servilis  condicionis  sit;  ita  ut 
nec  in  publico  convenire  loco  nec  aedificare  sibi  ecclesias  nec  ad  cir- 
cumscribtionem  legum  quicquam  meditari  valeant,  omni  civili  et  mil- 
itari,  curiarum  etiam  et  defensorum  et  judicum  sub  viginti  librarum 
auri  interminatione  prohibendi  auxilio.  Illis  etiam  in  sua  omnibus 
manentibus  firmitate,  quae  de  militia  et  donandi  jure  ac  testamenti 
factione  vel  neganda  penitus  vel  in  certas  vix  concessa  personas  poenis- 
que  variis  de  diversis  sunt  haereticis  promulgatae,  ita  ut  nec  speciale 
quidem  beneficium  adversus  leges  valeat  impetratum.  Nulli  haere- 
ticorum danda  licentia  vel  ingenuos  vel  servos  proprios,  qui  orthodox- 
orum  sunt  initiati  mysteriis,  ad  suum  rursus  baptisma  deducendi,  nec 
vero  illos,  quos  emerint  vel  qualitercumque  habuerint  necdum  suae 
superstitioni  cunjunctos,  prohibendi  catholicae  sequi  religionem  eccles- 
iae. Quod  qui  fecerit  vel,  cum  ingenuus,  in  se  fieri  passus  sit  vel 
factum  non  detulerit,  exilio  ac  decem  librarum  auri  multa  damnabitur, 
testamenti  et  donationis  faciendae  utrique  deneganda  licentia.  Quae 
omnia  ita  custodiri  decernimus,  ut  nulli  judicum  liceat  delatum  ad  se 
crimen  minori  aut  nulli  cohercitioni  mandare,  nisi  ipse  id  pati  velit, 
quod  aliis  dissimulando  concesserit." 
*  Ferrandus,  Breviatio.,  Can.,  174. 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


sembled  in  the  sixteenth  Council  of  Carthage  in  May,  418, 
passed  a  series  of  eleven  canons  relative  to  conversions  and 
the  delimitation  of  dioceses.^    The  canons  are  as  follows: 

Can.  9  (117).  It  was  ordered  by  a  full  council  some  years 
ago  that  communities  which,  before  the  publication  of  the  im- 
perial laws  against  Donatists,  had  already  become  Catholic, 
should  become  part  of  the  diocese  of  those  bishops  who  had 
converted  them  to  Catholicism;  but  if  they  had  entered  into 
the  communion  of  the  church  after  the  publication  of  these 
laws  they  should  be  attributed  to  the  dioceses  to  which  they 
really  belonged  during  the  time  that  they  were  Donatists. 
This  ordinance  having  occasioned  and  still  causing  many  dif- 
ferences between  the  bishops,  the  following  has  been  decided : 
Whenever  in  any  place  whatsoever,  a  Catholic  Church  and  a 
Donatist  church  are  neighboring  and  belong  to  different  dio- 
ceses, the  two  should  make  part  of  the  diocese  to  which  the 
Catholic  Church  belongs,  no  matter  whether  the  Donatist 
party  has  been  converted  before  or  after  the  publication  of 
the  imperial  laws. 

Can.  10  (118).  If  the  Donatist  bishop  is  converted,  the  two 
bishops  (he  and  the  Catholic)  ought  to  divide  the  diocese  into 
parts,  so  that  the  one  part  shall  obey  the  one,  and  the  other 
the  other.  The  bishop  that  was  ordained  first  shall  make  the 
division  and  the  other  have  the  first  choice;  if  there  be  any 
part  over  which  they  are  undecided,  it  shall  pertain  to  the  one 
who  is  nearest.  If  the  two  episcopal  seats  are  equally  distant, 
the  people  shall  decide  by  a  majority  vote;  if  there  be  a  ballot, 
the  more  ancient  bishop  shall  preside.  But  if  the  places  to  be 
divided  are  of  a  population  so  unequal  that  a  perfect  equality 
can  not  be  established,  the  locality  which  shall  remain  after 
the  division  should  be  treated  as  is  ordered  done  (in  the  pro- 
ceeding canon)  for  a  particular  locality. 

Can.  II  (119).  If  after  the  publication  of  this  law,  a 
bishop  shall  have  restored  a  locality  to  the  Catholic  unity,  and 

^Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  190-196;  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  930;  Mansi,  op. 
cit.,  iii,  810-823;  iv,  377;  Cod.  Can.  Ecc.  Af.,  can.  117-125,  123-124 


196 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


shall  hold  it  under  his  jurisdiction  for  three  years  without  any 
contestation,  it  may  not  be  taken  from  him.  .  .  But  if  a  Dona- 
tist  bishop  be  converted,  this  delay  shall  cause  him  no  preju- 
dice, for  there  are  three  years  from  the  date  of  his  conversion 
for  reclaiming  the  places  which  may  have  been  taken  from 
his  see. 

Can.  12  (120).  When  a  bishop,  believing  that  he  has  right 
over  a  church,  tries  to  take  it  into  his  power,  not  by  an  epis- 
copal judgment  but  otherwise,  he  loses  by  so  doing  all  his  rights 
at  the  exact  moment  when  another  bishop  opposes  his  pre- 
tensions. 

Can.  13  (121).  When  a  bishop  shows  no  zeal  for  restor- 
ing the  localities  of  his  circumspection  to  the  Catholic  unity, 
let  the  neighboring  bishops  remonstrate.  If  during  six  months 
he  does  not  give  heed,  let  these  localities  be  adjudged  to  what- 
ever bishop  shall  gain  them  to  the  Church.  ...  In  a  doubtful 
case  let  the  primate  of  the  two  parties  name  arbitrators. 

Can.  14  (122).  One  ought  not  to  appeal  from  judges  whom 
he  has  chosen  of  his  own  accord. 

Can.  15  (123).  When  in  his  church  a  bishop  shows  no  zeal 
against  heretics,  let  the  neighboring  bishops  remonstrate  with 
him.  If  six  months  pass  without  the  restoration  of  the  heretics 
although  the  commissioners  have  been  in  the  province,  he  shall 
be  refused  the  Catholic  communion  until  he  shall  have  ef- 
fected the  restoration. 

Can.  16  (124).  If  he  affirms  that  he  has  restored  the  here- 
tics to  communion  and  this  be  not  so,  let  him  lose  his  bishopric. 

Can.  17  (125).  When  the  priests,  deacons  and  lesser  clerics 
feel  that  they  must  complain  of  a  judgment  delivered  by  their 
bishop,  they  should,  with  the  consent  of  this  bishop,  address 
the  neighboring  bishops,  who  shall  judge  the  difference.  If 
they  wish  to  appeal  further,  they  shall  address  their  primate 
or  the  African  Council.  Whoever  shall  appeal  to  a  tribunal 
beyond  the  sea  (Rome)  will  be  excommunicated. 

The  Donatist  party  was  not  exterminated.  Circum- 
celliones  still  raged, ^  and  a  Donatist  Council  of  more 
'  Aug.,  Gest.  cum  Enier.,  12. 


SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  DONATISTS 


than  thirty  bishops  was  held  in  Numidia  at  about  the  same 
time  that  the  Council  of  Carthage  was  in  session  (418). 
One  of  the  canons  of  this  council  declared  that  priests  and 
bishops  converted  by  force  would  obtain  grace  and  con- 
serve their  dignities  in  the  Donatist  Church  if  they  had 
neither  officited  nor  preached  in  the  church  of  "  tradi- 
fores."  They  continued  to  ordain  bishops.^  Dulcitus,  an- 
other of  the  special  commissioners  sent  out  by  the  Em- 
peror, promulgated  two  edicts  on  the  application  of  the 
law  of  repression  for  the  restoration  of  unity  ^  which  re- 
sulted in  many  conversions  and  even  in  that  of  some  of  the 
circumcelliones.'  Yet  despite  all  efforts  many  remained  ir- 
reconciled ;  and  among  them  were  Petilian  of  Constantine, 
Emeritus  of  Caesarea,  and  Gaudentius  of  Thamugadi,  who 
wrote  a  polemic  against  Augustine  about  the  year  420.* 

*  Aug.,  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  37.  47-48. 

'Aug.,  Ep..  204,  3:  Contr.  Gaud.,  i,  i,  i ;  i,  ig,  21;  ii.  31,  40;  Ret., 
ii,  85. 

*  Ibid.,  i,  II,  12;  i,  12,  13;  i,  33,  42-43;  i>  I4.  IS;  i.  16,  17;  i,  18,  19. 

*  Aug.,  Gest.  cum  Enter.,  i;  Serin,  ad  Caesar.  Ecc.  pleb.,  6;  Contr. 
Gaud.,  i,  14,  15;  i,  29,  33;  i,  i,  i ;  i,  n,  12;  Ret.,  ii,  77;  ii,  85;  Ep.,  204 
I,  9;  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  16;  C.  I.  L..  vii.  21570,  21571-21574. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


The  Manichaeans,  Pelagians  and  Arians 
I 

The  Manichaeans  had  been  the  first  of  Augustine's 
heretical  opponents.  Even  before  his  ordination,  he  had 
written  much  against  them :  De  Libera  Arbitrio,  De  Genesi 
adversus  Manichaeos,  De  Moribus  Ecclesiae  Catholicae, 
De  Moribus  Manichaeoruni,  De  Vera  Religione — the  five 
works  which  were  spoken  of  by  Paul  as  "  Augustine's  Anti- 
Manichaean  Pentateuch."  ^  After  his  return  to  Africa  and 
his  ordination,  Augustine  continued  his  work  against  this 
sect.  In  fact  he  was  so  active  against  them  during  his 
earlier  career  that  Cassiodorus  has  said  that  "  he  discoursed 
against  these  heretics  more  diligently  and  with  keener  force 
than  against  any  other."-  His  African  polemics  were: 
De  Utilitate  Credendi  (391),  De  Duabus  Animabus  (391), 
Disputatio  contra  Fortunatum  (392),  Contra  Adimantum 
(397)^  Contra  Epistolam  Manichaei  quam  vacant  Fundch 
menti  (^397),  Contra  Faustum  (^400),  De  Actis  cum 
Felice  Manichaeo  (407),  and  De  Natura  Bani  and  Contra 
Secundiniim  Manichaeiim. 

Though  he  wrote  much  against  this  heresy,  his  attitude 
towards  it  was  vastly  dif¥erent  from  that  which  we  have 
seen  him  exhibiting  toward  the  Donatists  and  the  pagans. 

>  Aug.,  Ep.,  25,  2. 

'  Cassiodorus,  Institutes,  i,  "  diligentius  atque  vivacius  adversus  eos 
quam  contra  haereses  alias  disseruit." 
198 


THE  MANICHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  199 

This,  as  he  himself  explained,  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
he  had  formerly  been  a  member  of  their  faith.'  "Let  those 
rage  against  you  who  have  never  been  led  astray  in  the  way 
they  see  that  you  are  set.  For  my  part,  I  can  on  no  account 
deal  harshly  with  you,  for  I  must  bear  with  you  now  as 
formerly  I  had  to  bear  with  myself,  and  I  must  be  as 
patient  toward  you  as  my  associates  were  with  me,  when  I 
went  madly  and  blindly  astray  in  your  beliefs."  We 
gather,  as  well,  that  when  Augustine  had  developed  his 
great  control  over  the  African  situation,  he  was  then  able 
.to  lighten  the  persecution  of  this  sect.  At  least  after  the 
year  408.  he  ceased  even  to  write  against  them ;  although 
we  know  that  they  continued  to  have  considerable  power 
in  Africa.  In  fact,  Augustine  and  his  party  favored  the 
Manichaeans  to  such  an  extent  that  their  Donatist  op- 
ponents could  claim  that  they,  in  practice  if  not  in  outward 
manifestation,  were  Manichaeans. 

This  sect,  if  not  particularly  persecuted  by  Augustine, 
received  a  very  different  treatment  from  the  government. 
Diocletian  (c  290)  issued  a  very  severe  edict  against  them. 
This  is  preserved  in  the  Haenel  edition  of  the  Codex  Gre- 
gorianus.^  It  is  directed  against  them  primarily  as  the  cult 
of  the  Persian  enemy  and  we  may  surmise  that  the  con- 
tinued and  intolerant  edicts  of  the  subsequent  emperors, 
issued  even  in  the  times  when  the  clergy  were  not  interested 
in  this  particular  sect,  are  the  results  of  something  about 
the  religion  that  was  held  to  be  hostile  to  the  state  itself. 
For  it  is  interesting,  and  apparently  significant,  that  in  the 
days  when  the  emperors  were  issuing  edicts  regarding  this 
sect  neither  Ambrose  nor  Jerome  were  concerned  with 
them. 

1  Aug.,  Contr.  Epist.  Fundam.,  2-3. 

'  Codex  Gregorianus,  iv.    Edition  Haenel  (Bonn,  1837). 


200 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


At  the  time  of  Augustine,  this  dualistic  doctrine  of  Hght 
and  darkness,  good  and  evil,  had  been  a  familiar  one  in 
Africa  for  at  least  a  hundred  years  and  was  widespread. 
From  the  above-mentioned  law  of  Diocletian,  we  know  that 
Manichaeanism  had  taken  root  in  Rome  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fourth  century.  An  edict  had  been  issued  to 
drive  its  followers  from  this  city.^  Many  indeed  had  gone 
to  Africa  and  we  find  that  the  Roman  bishop,  Anastasius 
(399-401),  was  afraid  that  these  might  return  to  Rome. 
As  a  consequence  he  resolved  to  admit  into  ecclesiastical 
orders  at  Rome  only  those  transmaritimes  who  could  pro- 
duce a  letter  signed  by  five  bishops." 

Augustine's  combats  with  the  Manichaeans  were  limited 
to  arguments  with  their  leaders.  We  possess  accounts  of 
two  such  encounters.  He  entered  upon  the  first,  held  in 
August  of  the  year  392,  at  the  request  of  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians, both  Donatist  and  Catholic.  This  was  a  public  con- 
ference with  Fortunatus,  the  savant  of  the  Manichaean 
party,  and  the  discussion  appears  to  have  been  rather  mild 
and  amicable.*  Fortunatus  on  his  part  would  direct  the 
inquiry  toward  the  conduct  of  the  two  parties;  Augustine 
would  treat  only  of  doctrine.  We  are  forced  to  rely  on 
Augustine's  account  for  what  took  place  but  according  to 
this,  Fortunatus  was  defeated  and  left  Hippo.*  If  he  did 
leave,  it  was  surely  from  conviction  or  at  most  because  of 
ridicule,  not  from  any  compulsion  on  the  part  of  his  op- 
ponent, for  at  this  period  Augustine  was  in  no  case  favor- 
able to  the  use  of  force ;  that,  he  claimed,  would  only  make 
hypocrites.  ° 

^Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  3  (372  A.  D.). 

'  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  973,  decreta  2-3 ;  Liber  Pontificalis,  i,  218 ; 
Gregory  the  Great,  Ep.,  ii,  3,  7. 
'  Possid.,  op.  cit,  s  and  6. 

*  Aug.,  Contr.  Fortun.,  i;  Ret.,  i,  14,  15,  16;  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  6. 

*  Aug.,  De  Musica;  In  Faust.,  v,  i,  8. 


THE  MANICHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  201 


We  have  no  direct  statement  as  to  whether  the  Mani- 
chaeans  took  part  in  the  revolt  of  Gildo,  which  occurred 
between  Augustine's  first  and  second  encounters  with  them. 
But  we  do  know  that  they  were  made  subject  to  the  re- 
pressive measures  which  followed.  On  the  seventeenth  of 
May,  399,  the  Emperor  issued  the  following  rescript  to 
Dominator,  the  vicar  of  Africa  "  By  special  rescript  we 
decree  the  suppression  of  the  criminal  Manichaeans  and 
their  execrable  assemblages,  already  condemned  by  just 
censure.  To  this  end  let  them  be  sought  out  and  brought 
into  the  public  place  and  let  them  when  proven  to  be  crimi- 
nals be  restrained  by  suitable  and  very  severe  correction. 
Let  the  stings  of  authority  be  turned  against  those  who 
protect  them  in  their  homes  with  a  care  that  is  worthy  of 
condemnation."  The  Manichaeans  gloried  in  the  perse- 
cution that  followed  and  boasted  that  they  were  persecuted 
for  the  sake  of  justice.  Yet  we  know  from  the  case  of 
Faustus  that  they  were  not  harshly  treated.  It  was  Faustus 
who  in  the  year  400  called  forth  Augustine's  Reply  to 
Faustus,  the  Manichaean.  Faustus  having  been  proven  to 
be  a  Manichaean  was  banished.  The  mildness  of  this  sen- 
tence was  the  result  of  the  request  of  the  bishops  to  the 
proconsul." 

On  the  seventh  and  eighth  of  December,  404,  Augustine 
held  a  second  Manichaean  disputation,  this  time  with  Felix, 
the  successor  of  Fortunatus.  His  challenge  to  his  adver- 
sary is  contained  in  the  following  letter    "  Your  attempts 

*  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  35.  "  Dominatori  Vicario  Africae.  Noxios 
Manichaeos  execrabilesque  eorum  conventus,  dudum  justa  animadver- 
sione  daiTinatos,  etiam  speciali  praeceptione  cohiberi  decernimus.  Qua- 
propter  quaesiti  adducantur  in  publicum  ac  detestati  criminosi  congrua 
et  severissima  emendatione  resecentur.  In  eos  etiam  auctoritatis 
aculei  dirigantur,  qui  eos  domibus  suis  damnanda  provisione  de- 
fendent." 

2  Aug.,  In  Faust.,  v,  8;  Conf.,  v,  6,  10;  Ret.,  ii,  7. 
'  Aug.,  Ep.,  79. 


202 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


at  evasion  are  to  no  purpose;  your  real  character  is  patent 
even  a  long  way  off.  My  brethren  have  reported  to  me 
their  conversation  with  you.  You  say  that  you  do  not  fear 
death ;  it  is  well :  but  you  ought  to  fear  that  death  which 
you  are  bringing  upon  yourself  by  your  blasphemous  as- 
sertions concerning  God.  ...  In  the  name  of  Christ,  I  de- 
mand of  you  to  answer,  if  you  are  able,  the  question  which 
baffled  your  predecessor,  Fortunatus."  The  conference 
took  place  in  the  Church  at  Hippo,  in  the  presence  of  a 
great  multitude.^  According  to  Augustine,  Felix  was  de- 
feated and  signed  a  recantation.  This  victory  seems  to 
have  satisfied  Augustine  as  far  as  this  sect  was  concerned. 
They  do  not  engage  him  hereafter. 

They,  however,  continued  to  be  of  moment  to  the  secular 
powers.  We  find  them  included  in  the  laws  against  heretics 
in  the  laws  of  the  years  405  and  again,  following  the  fall 
of  Stilicho,  in  408."^  Accusations  were  to  be  public,  inqui- 
sition became  a  public  duty  and  members  of  the  sect  were 
to  be  incapable  of  testating  or  inheriting  and  were  for- 
bidden to  donate,  buy  or  sell,  and  the  taint  of  heresy  was 
to  extend  even  after  death. 

By  a  law  of  a  later  date  they  were  forbidden  residence 
at  Rome,'^  lest  they  corrupt  the  common  people,  and  this 
law  was  soon  extended  to  apply  to  all  the  Emperor's  do- 
mains.* The  Emperors  might  well  try  to  drive  out  the 
Manichaeans  for  they  were  enemies  of  the  state;  as  such 
they  were  among  the  first  to  join  the  Arian  Vandal  invad- 
ers.'^   We  find  them  still  in  Africa  in  the  days  of  Leo  the 

'Aug.,  Ret.,  ii,  8;  De  Act.  cum  Pel.  Man. 

2  Cod.  Tlieod.,  xvi,  5,  38,  cf.  supra,  p.  116;  xvi,  5,  40;  xvi,  5,  41,  cf. 
supra,  p.  122;  xvi,  5,  42,  cf.  supra,  p.  133;  xvi,  5,  43,  cf.  supra,  p.  134; 
xvi,  5,  45,  cf.  supra,  p.  I3S- 

'  Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  62;  cf.  Leo  the  Great,  Serm.,  41. 
Cod.  Theod.,  xvi,  5,  64,  cf.  supra,  p.  191. 

*  Victor  Vitensis,  Hist.  Persec.  Vandal.,  ii,  i. 


THE  MANICHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  203 

Great  who  succeeded  in  obtaining  against  them  an  edict  of 
banishment  from  the  Emperor  Valentinian  III  in  445.^ 

II 

The  Donatists  were  not  yet  under  control  when  the 
African  clerg}-  disclosed  another  heresy.  Pelagianism. 
This  was  to  become  the  subject  of  no  less  than  twenty-five 
councils  and  to  involve  not  Africa  alone  but  the  whole  of 
the  Christian  world.  The  teachings  of  this  sect  had  had 
their  origin  at  Rome  but  it  was  the  watchful  care  of  Au- 
gustine and  the  African  clergy  that  branded  them  as  hereti- 
cal. Pelagianism  became  a  heresy  as  opposed  to  the  Au- 
gustinian  doctrines  of  grace  and  predestination.  A  dele- 
gate from  Augustine.  Paul  Orosius.  stirred  up  Jerome  and 
the  East  to  fight  the  new  teachings.  And  later  Augustine 
and  his  fellow-bishops  forced  the  Roman  bishops  them- 
selves to  condemn  these  doctrines.  In  fact  this  struggle 
was  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  African  leaders  to  inter- 
pret and  enforce  the  dogma  of  the  church ;  and  moreover  it 
was  a  successful  endeavor.  We  have  seen  how  Augustine 
had  previously  supervised  his  colleagues;  how  he  had 
worked  for  the  destruction  of  paganism  and  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Donatists;  how  he  had  gained  control  over  var- 
ious officials  of  the  Roman  government.  Yet  the  climax 
of  his  power  and  influence  came  when  he  was  dictating,  to 
Rome  itself,  the  attitude  that  it  was  to  take  toward  Pela- 
gianism. Therein  lies  the  importance  of  this  new  heresy 
for  this  study. 

Pelagius,  the  author  of  the  new  schism,  was  a  Briton  or 
Scot  who  came  to  Rome  before  the  year  400."  He  was 
what  might  be  termed  a  city  monk,  a  layman  who  lived  ac- 

>  Leo.  £/>.,  8. 

-Jerome,  In  Hier.,  in:  Orosius,  ApoL.  i,  4;  12,  3;  Aug.,  £/>.,  i86,  i; 
Prosper,  Chron.,  413. 


204 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


cording  to  the  monastic  discipline/  He  was  austere,  mod- 
est, timid  and  reserved ;  in  no  sense  a  revolutionary  heretic. 
Yet  he  was  thoroughly  educated,  possessing  a  knowledge 
of  Greek ;  a  rather  unusual  accomplishment  in  those  days.^ 
He  seems  to  have  gained  a  very  large  influence,  having 
among  his  friends  such  persons  as  Paul  of  Nola,  Simplicius 
Severus,  Rufinus,  Pammachius,  Demetria  and  Proba.* 
He  corresponded  with  various  bishops  and  was  esteemed  by 
Augustine  himself.*  His  first  convert  was  a  noble  lawyer 
named  Celestius,^  who  was  of  the  aggressive  type  and  he  it 
was  who  brought  on  the  conflict  with  the  orthodox. 

Pelagius  and  Celestius  were  of  the  number  who  mi- 
grated from  Rome  to  Africa  about  the  year  410.*  From 
that  time  on  their  lives  were  a  continuous  struggle.  Pela- 
gius himself  passed  on  to  the  East  but  Celestius  applied  for 
admission  to  clerical  orders.''  It  appears  that  Celestius' 
teachings  had  already  been  made  known  to  the  African 
clergy  by  Paul  of  Milan. ^  The  bishops  demanded  an  in- 
vestigation and  a  council  was  called  by  Aurelius,  at  Car- 
thage in  411  to  consider  the  case.®  Paul  had  summarized 
the  errors  of  Celestius  as  follows :  Adam  would  have  died 
even  if  he  had  not  sinned ;  Adam's  faults  affected  only 
Adam ;  Infants  at  birth  are  in  the  same  state  as  Adam 

lAug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  35,  36;  Jerome,  In  Hier.,  iii ;  Oros.,  ApoL,  4; 
Zosimus,  Ep.,  ad  Afric. 
"  Aug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  ii. 

'Aug.,  De  Grat.,  35,  38;  Pelagius,  Ep.,  ad  Innoc;  Aug.,  Ep.,  186,  i. 

*  Aug.,  Ep.,  186,  I ;  De  Pecc,  ii,  25,  41 ;  ii,  16,  25 ;  iii,  i ;  Ret.,  ii,  33. 
s  Aug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  35,  62. 

*  Marius  Mercator,  Comm.,  132 ;  Pelagius,  Ep.  ad  Demetr.,  30. 
'  Aug.,  Ep.,  157,  22. 

*  Mar.  Merc,  Comm.,  132. 

»  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iv,  289-292;  Aug.,  Ep.,  175,  i;  Ret.,  2,  33;  Ep.,  139, 
2,  3;  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  1201. 


THE  MANICHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  205 

before  his  fall;  The  human  race  is  not  to  die  for  Adam's 
sin,  nor  to  be  resurrected  because  of  the  resurrection  of 
Christ;  The  law  leads  to  heaven  just  as  surely  as  does  the 
testament;  There  had  been  men  without  sin  before  Christ.^ 
Celestius  defended  himself  on  the  grounds  that  the  ortho- 
dox (citing  Rufinus)  were  not  agreed  on  these  points,  that 
they  were  still  open  questions.  As  a  part  of  the  acts  of  this 
council  are  lost  we  cannot  be  sure  of  the  outcome."  We 
know,  however,  that  Celestius  left  directly  for  the  East. 

Augustine,  although  he  was  not  at  the  council,^  imme- 
diately took  up  the  conflict.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however, 
that  this  attack  was  purely  on  the  doctrines — it  did  not  be- 
come a  personal  one,  directed  against  the  leaders,  before 
415.*  He  preached  against  the  doctrines,''  and  late  in  the 
year  41 1  or  early  in  the  year  412  he  wrote  his  De  Pecca^ 
torum  Mentis  et  Remissione  et  De  Baptismo  Parvitlorum 
ad  Marcellinum.  and  De  Spiritu  et  Littera  ad  Marcellinnm. 
These,  it  will  be  observed,  were  addressed  to  the  imperial 
commissioner,  and  the  reason  was  that  he  had  been  sought 
as  a  partisan  of  the  new  error,*  and  had  written  to  Au- 
gustine for  instruction.  And  of  no  less  importance  than 
these  writings  was  the  act  of  Augustine  in  despatching  his 
disciple,  Paul  Orosius,  to  Jerome  in  the  Orient  with  infor- 
mation regarding  the  new  heresy.' 

Pelagius  had  entered  Palestine  and  it  was  against  him 

'  Aug.,  De  Pecc,  iii,  4 :  De  Gest.  Pel,  ii,  2,  3.  4 :  Hefele.  op.  cit.,  ii, 
I,  169  et  seq. 

2  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  1201;  Aug..  De  Grat..  ii,  2,  3.  4;  Mar.  Mer.. 
Comm.,  133. 
"Aug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  11,  23. 
*  Aug.,  Ret.,  ii,  33. 

"Aug.,  Sernt.,  152,  153,  154,  155,  156,  158,  170,  174,  176:  Ret.,  ii.  33. 
•Aug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  ii ;  De  Pec.  Merit.,  i,  34:  Ret.,  33. 
'  Possid.,  op.  cit..  7.  8 ;  Aug.,  Bp..  166. 


2o6 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


that  Jerome  and  Orosius  contended.  A  council  was  held 
at  Jerusalem  under  the  Presidency  of  John  in  415.  John 
of  Jerusalem  and  Jerome  had  been  made  enemies  by  the 
proceedings  of  the  late  Origenistic  controversy  and  so  it  is 
not  surprising  to  find  John  taking  the  side  of  Pelagius."- 
At  the  council  Orosius  acted  as  the  champion  for  the  ortho- 
dox. He  read  a  statement  of  what  had  occurred  at  Car- 
thage. He  mentioned  that  Augustine  was  writing  against 
the  heresy  and  produced  a  letter  from  Augustine  to  Hilary 
of  Syracuse  against  the  doctrines  of  Pelagius.-  Here  we 
see  a  deliberate  effort  on  the  part  of  Augustine  to  control 
the  Eastern  situation :  it,  however,  was  not  successful. 
Orosius  was  not  well  suited  for  his  mission  and  Jerome 
was  not  the  politician  that  Augustine  was.  As  Orosius 
could  speak  no  Greek,  Pelagius  who  was  well  educated  in 
that  language  was  at  an  advantage.  He  showed  his  disre- 
gard for  Augustine  by  replying  when  the  bishop's  authority 
was  cited  by  Orosius :  "  What  does  Augustine  matter  to 
me?  "  The  council  decided  to  submit  all  of  the  testimony 
to  Innocent  of  Rome.  Orosius  who  had  expected  the  con- 
demnation of  Pelagius  was  very  much  disgusted  at  this 
outcome  and  departed  for  the  West.^  Another  council  of 
December,  415,  held  at  Diospolis  in  Palestine,  was  even  less 
successful.  At  this  the  West  was  represented  by  bishops 
Heros  and  I.azarus.  These  men  are  rather  vague  histori- 
cal figures.  We  learn  that  they  were  driven  from  their 
bishoprics  of  Aries  and  Aix  because  of  the  part  they  had 
taken  in  the  usurpation  of  Constantine.*  We  have  no 
definite  statement  as  to  why  they  appear  in  the  East  at  this 

'  Aug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  ii,  23. 

'  Orosius,  Liber  Apologeticus  pro  Arbitrii  Libertate,  which  contains 
nearly  all  of  our  information  regarding  this  council.    Aug.,  Ep.,  156. 
'  Ores.,  Lib.  Apol.,  iv,  310. 

*  Duchesne  Pastes  episcopaux,  i,  94,  cf.  supra,  p.  129. 


THE  MAXICHAEAXS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  207 


time.  They  held  a  conference  with  Orosius  before  he  re- 
turned to  Africa  and  then  worked  for  the  Augustinian 
cause  in  the  conference  at  Diospolis.  They  were  not  well 
received/  and  the  council  declared  Pelagius  worthy  of 
communion,  at  which  Jerome  was  greatly  indignant.  He 
applies  to  this  synod  the  term  "  Miserahilis."  - 

The  unsatisfactory  results  of  these  eastern  councils 
aroused  the  African  clergy.  Orosius  had  returned  with 
the  account  of  the  failure  of  his  efforts  at  Jerusalem  and 
through  him  Heros  and  Lazarus  made  known  the  results 
of  the  council  at  Diospolis."'  Africa  realized  that  it  must 
now  consult  with  Rome  and  accordingly  two  synods.*  the 
one  of  Carthage,  the  other  of  Alilive.  each  confirmed  the 
acts  of  the  council  of  411  against  Celestius  and  sent  letters 
to  the  Roman  bishop  Innocent  treating  of  the  Pelagian 
situation.^  The  letter  of  the  Council  of  Carthage  is  more 
than  a  statement  of  the  situation;  it  definitely  and  clearly 
outlines  for  the  Roman  bishop  what  his  line  of  conduct  in 
the  matter  should  be.    It  is  Africa  admonishing  Rome. 

When,  as  was  our  custom,  we  had  come  solemnly  to  the  church 
at  Carthage  and  for  various  causes  were  holding  a  synod,  our 
co-presbyter,  Orosius,  gave  us  the  letters  of  the  holy  brothers, 
our  fellow  priests,  Heros  and  Lazarus,  whose  statement  we 
have  determined  to  add  to  this.  After  reading  these  we  per- 
ceived that  Pelagius  and  Celestius.  the  guilty  authors  of  the 
error,  ought  again  to  be  anathematized  by  us  all.    Whence  it 

'  Aug.,  De  Gest.  Pel.,  i.  2 ;  Jerome,  Ep.,  143.  2.  They  were  esteemed 
by  Augustine  {Ep..  175,  i)  but  disliked  by  Zosimus  of  Rome  (Jaffe, 
op.  cit.,  330. 

'  Jerome,  Ep.,  142. 

'  Aug.,  Epp.,  175,  I ;  186,  2. 

*  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i ;  Aug.,  Epp.,  176,  5 ;  186,  2. 

•  Aug.,  Epp.,  175,  176. 


208 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


was  decreed  that  we  seek  to  recount  what  was  enacted  nearly 
five  years  ago  concerning  Celestius  by  the  Carthaginian  coun- 
cil. This  having  been  done,  O  holy  brother,  we  felt  that  your 
Holiness  ought  to  be  informed  that  the  authority  of  the  apos- 
tolic see  might  be  added  to  our  mediocrity  for  guarding  the 
safety  of  many  and  for  correcting  the  perversity  of  others. 
Wherefore,  even  if  Pelagius  and  Celestius  should  be  corrected, 
or  if  they  should  declare  that  such  has  never  been  their  opinion 
and  dismiss  all  the  writings  imputed  to  them,  and  they  could 
not  be  proven  by  evidence  to  have  lied ;  nevertheless  all  men 
teaching  or  holding  that  the  human  nature  is  sufficient  in  itself 
for  the  escaping  of  sin  and  keeping  the  commandments  of  God 
and  all  men  declaring  themselves  opponents  of  the  doctrine 
of  grace,  to  which  the  prayers  of  the  saints  have  given  such 
brilliant  evidence,  should  be  anathematized ;  also  all  those  who 
deny  that  infants  are  delivered  from  perdition  by  the  baptism 
of  Jesus  Christ  or  who  hold  that  without  this  baptism  they  may 
obtain  eternal  life.^ 

Similar  action  was  taken  by  the  bishops  at  Milive.  In 
a  letter  to  Innocent  they  demand  that  he  show  his  fidelity 
to  the  church  and  the  apostolic  see  in  the  great  danger 
that  was  threatened.^  And  that  Innocent  might  be  fully 
convinced  of  the  seriousness  of  the  pleas,  five  of  the  lead- 
ing African  bishops,  including  Aurelius,  Augustine  and 
Possidius  wrote  him  a  personal  appeal.*  They  demand  a 
remedy  equal  to  the  peril.  They  show  the  number  of  the 
followers  of  the  new  heresy  in  Africa  and  at  Rome.  They 
then  try  to  show  the  Roman  bishop  the  course  he  should 
pursue :  "  Either  Pelagius  ought  by  your  Reverence  to  be 
called  to  Rome  and  diligently  interrogated  about  grace, 
fate,  sin,  etc.,  or  this  should  be  treated  of  with  him  by  letter. 
And  if  he  be  found  to  hold  what  the  church  and  apostolic 


>  Aug.,  Ep.,  175- 
*Ibid.,  177. 


» Ibid.,  176. 


THE  MANICHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  209 


truth  teaches,  with  no  scruples  on  the  part  of  the  church 
and  without  ambiguity,  let  him  be  absolved  and  let  truth 
rejoice  in  his  cleansing.  Let  Pelagius  anathematize  his 
writings — or  if  he  denies  that  they  are  his  and  says  that 
his  enemies  wrote  them,  let  the  writings  be  anathematized 
and  condemned  by  paternal  authority  and  your  sanctity." 

Innocent,  in  response  to  these  three  letters,^  approved 
in  part  the  attitude  of  the  African  councils,  though  he  was 
not  certain  as  to  whether  there  were  heretics  of  this  sort 
at  Rome,  and  though  it  would  be  impracticable  to  cite 
Pelagius  to  Rome.  However,  until  they  should  come  to 
their  senses,  Pelagius  and  Celestius  were  to  be  excommu- 
nicated, apostolici  vigoris  aiictorifate.'  And  Augustine, 
preaching  on  the  twenty-third  of  September,  416,  said:* 
"  Already  two  councils  have  sent  their  decisions  on  those 
subjects  to  the  apostolic  see  from  which  favorable  answers 
have  been  received,  the  cause  is  finished."  But  such  was 
not  the  case. 

Early  in  the  year  417  Innocent  died  and  was  succeeded 
by  Zosimus.  Celestius  appeared  personally  at  Rome  and 
succeeded  in  winning  the  bishop  to  his  support.*  Zosimus, 
thereupon,  despatched  a  letter  to  the  African  bishops  jus- 
tifying Celestius  and  blaming  them  for  believing  the  tes- 
timony of  Heros  and  Lazarus  and  even  threatening  them 
with  excommunication  and  deposition."  Later  he  took  a 
similar  position  regarding  Pelagius.  This  called  the 
African  bishops  again  to  action.  A  council  assembled  at 
Carthage  in  418  and  informed  the  Roman  bishop  that  the 

Maffe,  op.  cit.,  321-323;  Aug..  Epp..  181-183. 
'  Aug.,  Ep.,  182,  6. 
'  Aug.,  Serm.,  131,  10. 

*  Jaffe,  op.  cit;  Zos.,  Ep.,  329;  Aug.,  De  Pec.  Or.,  7,  8. 
'  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iv,  355 ;  Zos.,  Ep.,  ed.  Jaffe,  330. 


210 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


sentence  of  his  predecessor,  Innocent,  would  stand :  '  "We 
have  decided  that  the  sentence  pronounced  against  Pela- 
gius  and  Celestius  by  the  venerable  bishop  Innocent  shall 
stand  until  they  shall  have  declared  by  a  very  definite  con- 
fession that  the  grace  of  God,  etc."  Zosimus'  response  in 
his  letter  of  March  the  twenty-first  (418),  was  to  the 
point :  ^  "  Our  authority  being  such  that  no  one  may  oppose 
our  judgment,  we  have  to  do  nothing  except  of  our  own 
will."  Another  council  was  called  at  Carthage  for  May  the 
first,  418,  which  adopted  eight  canons  anathematizing 
Pelagius  and  Celestius  and  confirming  the  position  of  In- 
nocent.* The  discussion  grew  very  heated,  the  Roman 
representatives  citing  the  canons  of  Nicea  and  the  Africans 
disputing  the  authenticity  of  the  redaction  quoted.  The  re- 
sult was  a  victory  for  Africa,  for  apparently  the  African 
Church  had  turned  its  attention  to  the  other  power  at 
Rome.  At  least  the  Emperor  took  the  matter  up  and  con- 
demned the  heresy  by  an  edict  of  the  thirtieth  of  April, 
418,*  which  later  he  strengthened  by  rescripts  sent  to  the 
African  bishops,  Augustine  and  Aurelius.  The  one  of  the 
ninth  of  June,  419,  to  Aurelius,  reads:  ' 

It  had  long  ago  been  decreed  that  Pelagius  and  Celestius,  the 
authors  of  an  execrable  heresy,  should  as  pestilent  corrupters 
of  Catholic  truth,  be  expelled  from  Rome,  lest  they  should  per- 
vert by  their  baneful  influence  the  minds  of  the  ignorant.  In 
this  our  clemency  followed  up  the  judgment  of  your  Holiness, 
according  to  which  it  is  beyond  all  question  that  they  were 
unanimously  condemned  after  an  impartial  examination  of  their 

'  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iv,  376-378 ;  cf.  Aug.,  De  Pec.  Or.,  7,  8. 
'  Mansi,  op.  cit.,  ii,  366;  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  190. 
'Mansi,  op.  cit.,  iii,  810-823;  iv,  377;  Hefele,  op.  cit.,  ii,  i,  190-196; 
Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  926. 
*  Harduin,  op.  cit.,  i,  1229  et  seq. 
'  Aug.,  Ep.,  201,  I. 


THE  MANJCHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIANS  211 


opinions.  Their  obstinate  persistence  in  the  offence  having, 
however,  made  it  necessary  to  issue  the  decree  a  second  time, 
we  have  further  enacted  by  a  recent  decree,  that  if  anyone 
knows  that  they  are  concealing  themselves  in  any  part  of  the 
provinces  and  delay  either  to  drive  them  out  or  to  disclose 
them,  he,  as  an  accomplice,  shall  be  liable  to  the  punishment 
prescribed. 

However,  to  secure  the  combined  efforts  of  the  Christian 
zeal  of  all  men  for  the  destruction  of  this  preposterous  heresy, 
it  will  be  proper,  most  dearly  beloved  Father,  that  the  author- 
ity or  your  Holiness  be  applied  to  the  correction  of  certain 
bishops,  who  either  support  the  evil  reasonings  of  these  men 
by  their  silent  consent  or  abstain  from  assailing  them  with 
open  opposition.  Let  your  Reverence,  then,  by  suitable  writ- 
ings, cause  all  bishops  to  be  admonished,  as  soon  as  they  shall 
know  by  the  order  of  your  Holiness,  that  this  order  is  laid 
upon  them,  that  whoever  shall,  through  impious  obstinacy  ne- 
glect to  vindicate  the  purity  of  their  doctrine  by  subscribing  to 
the  condemnation  of  the  persons  before  mentioned,  shall,  after 
having  been  punished  by  the  loss  of  episcopal  office,  be  excom- 
municated and  banished  from  their  sees  for  life.  For,  as,  by 
a  sincere  confession  of  the  truth,  we  ourselves,  in  obedience 
to  the  Council  of  Nicea,  worship  God  as  the  Creator  of  all 
things,  and  as  the  Fountain  of  our  imperial  sovereignty,  your 
Holiness  will  not  suffer  the  members  of  this  odious  sect,  in- 
venting, to  the  injury  of  religion,  notions  new  and  strange,  to 
conceal  in  writings  privately  circulated  an  error  condemned 
by  public  authority.  For,  most  beloved  and  loving  father,  the 
guilt  of  heresy  is  in  no  degree  less  grievous  in  those  who  dis- 
simulate and  thus  support  the  error  by  not  denouncing  it. 
thus  extending  to  it  a  fatal  approbation. 

The  Emperor  having  condemned  the  heresy,  Zosimus  gave 
in  to  the  African  councils  and  anathematized  Pelagius  and 
Celestius  and  in  an  encyclic  letter  condemned  their  doc- 
trines.^ 

^  Mar.  Merc,  Comm.,  134. 


212 


POLITICS  AND  RELIGION 


Thus  Pelagianism  was  officially  destroyed  in  the  Occi- 
dent, though  by  its  persistence  it  caused  new  edicts  in  419 
and  421.^  A  sporadic  outburst  in  a  monastery  in  Africa 
caused  Augustine  to  write  his  Lihri  duo  Gratia  Christi  et 
De  Peccato  Originali.  In  Gaul  they  continued  to  cause 
trouble  and  furnish  us  later  the  basis  for  semipelagianism. 
In  the  East  they  were  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Ephe- 
sus  in  431. 

Ill 

Pagans,  Donatists,  Manichaeans  and  Pelagians  being 
disposed  of.  Augustine  was  destined  in  his  last  days  to 
combat  yet  another  enemy  of  his  faith.  And  in  this  case 
the  political  situation  led  to  the  triumph  of  the  enemy  just 
as  in  the  former  it  had  turned  to  the  profit  of  the  orthodox. 
Arianism  was  at  this  time  definitely  the  religion  of  the 
barbarians  and  the  close  of  Augustine's  career  marks 
their  invasions  into  Africa.  Their  first  real  triumph  came 
when  Augustine's  disciple,  Boniface,  the  militant  champion 
of  orthodoxy,  married  an  Arian  princess  from  the  Spanish 
tribes.-  Boniface,  thereby,  became  an  outcast  from  the 
ranks  of  the  faithful  and  his  camp  became  the  place  of 
refuge  for  all  the  discontented  of  whatever  faith.  Dis- 
senters in  great  numbers  flocked  to  his  standards.  Au- 
gustine, though  old  and  feeble,  took  up  the  challenge.  He 
began  anew  his  conferences  with  heretical  leaders.  One 
was  held  with  Pascentius  at  Carthage,^  another  with  Maxi- 
minus  at  Hippo.*  He  wrote  Contra  Maximinum  and  Sermo 
de  Arianis.  However,  he  was  too  old  to  keep  up  the  fight. 
He  did  not  live  to  see  the  triumph  of  the  enemy  but  died  as 
the  Vandals  were  besieging  Hippo  in  the  year  430. 


'  Aug.,  Ep.,  201. 

'  Possid.,  op.  cit.,  17. 


'  Aug.,  El>.,  220. 
*Ibid.,  17. 


THE  MANICHAEANS,  PELAGIANS  AND  ARIAS S  213 

With  the  death  of  the  leader  and  the  triumph  of  the 
Vandals,  Augustine's  political  machine  went  to  pieces. 
There  was  no  longer  need  for  the  pretensions  of  the 
African  Church  and  its  councils.  Yet  Augustine's  numer- 
ous combats  left  an  abundant  literature,  which  as  a  party 
of  the  renaissance  of  the  twelfth  century  was  to  furnish 
the  directing  principles  for  the  legal  suppression  of  unbe- 
lief. Augustine's  legal  training  and  his  strict  adherence  to 
a  legal  basis  for  all  of  his  actions  furnished  principles 
which  were  eagerly  seized  upon  by  Western  Europe  with 
the  revival  of  Roman  law.  We  have  seen  how  these  prin- 
ciples had  grown  up.  Their  later  use  was  not  determined 
by  any  existing  conditions.  Actions  which  had  been  taken 
to  fit  a  particular  circumstance  or  case  became  principles 
applicable  to  all  cases  of  heresy.  It  did  not  matter  in  what 
setting  the  words  were  used ;  it  was  sufficient  to  know  that 
the  greatest  of  the  Fathers  had  said :  "  Let  the  lions  now 
be  turned  to  break  in  pieces  the  bones  of  the  calumniators, 
and  let  no  intercession  for  them  be  made  by  Daniel  when 
he  has  been  proven  innocent."  ^  Thus  it  was  that  Au- 
gustine's works  became  the  great  source  of  justification  for 
intolerance. 

1  Aug.,  El>..  18s,  2,  7;  5.  19. 


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